In front of the friend Elephant kills tourist on Thai vacation island
Sharing a bath with elephants is one of the main attractions for tourists in the camps in Thailand.
Image: Archivbild: dpa
In Thai elephant camps, tourists get very close to the animals.
Image: Archivbild: dpa
The elephants live with their guides in the centers. Animal rights activists complain that the tourists stress the animals.
Image: Archivbild: dpa
Sharing a bath with elephants is one of the main attractions for tourists in the camps in Thailand.
Image: Archivbild: dpa
In Thai elephant camps, tourists get very close to the animals.
Image: Archivbild: dpa
The elephants live with their guides in the centers. Animal rights activists complain that the tourists stress the animals.
Image: Archivbild: dpa
Bathing with elephants is considered a tourist attraction in Thailand. But what seems so idyllic is actually dangerous - and has now cost a student her life. Criticism of camps of this kind is growing.
06.01.2025, 07:13
06.01.2025, 07:25
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- An elephant killed a Spanish tourist on the Thai island of Koh Yao Yai on January 3.
- The 22-year-old's friend was forced to watch her die.
- Animal rights activists criticize that the elephants are being exploited for tourism.
A Spanish tourist has been attacked and fatally injured by an elephant in Thailand. The accident occurred in an elephant camp set up especially for tourists on the island of Koh Yao Yai in the south of the country, as reported by Thai and Spanish media citing the police. For many Thailand fans, a close encounter with the pachyderms is a highlight of their trip.
The animal attacked the 22-year-old student in front of her partner on January 3 when the couple was washing and scrubbing the elephants in a body of water together with other vacationers, according to reports. Bathing with the animals in rivers or ponds is one of the attractions at such camps.
The newspaper "El Mundo" wrote, citing the owner, that the "Koh Yao Elephant Care Center" had been temporarily closed following the tragic incident. The website was also out of order.
Great stress for the animals
The elephant was probably under a lot of stress due to the constant interactions with tourists, the news site "The Thaiger" quoted animal rights activists as saying. Many of the elephants live isolated and far from their natural habitat - and are also constantly forced to perform actions that are unnatural for them.
Thousands of domesticated elephants in Thailand live together with their mahouts (elephant handlers). In recent years, the much-criticized exploitation of the animals for tourist riding tours has greatly diminished.
Since then, numerous elephant camps, most of which are advertised as sanctuaries for rescued animals, offer up-close, supposedly animal-friendly encounters with Thailand's national animal. In most of these centers, the highlight of the visit is a bath with the elephants. Guests are allowed to scrub the elephants' skin with mud, among other things.
