In southern Thailand, a tragic incident occurred where a Spanish tourist lost her life while bathing an elephant at a sanctuary. The 23-year-old woman was struck by the distressed animal’s trunk at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre in Phang Nga province. Local authorities have reached out to the Spanish embassy to verify the victim’s identity.
The sanctuary has not disclosed further details about the incident. Over the past 12 years, wild elephants, including those in sanctuaries, have been involved in fatal attacks, with a total of 227 people losing their lives. Just last month, a 49-year-old woman was killed by an elephant at a national park in northern Thailand.
While encounters between villagers and wild elephants are common, attacks within sanctuaries are infrequent. Bathing elephants is a popular tourist activity in Thailand, a country that houses about 2,800 elephants for tourism purposes. Despite its popularity, some animal rights groups argue that bathing elephants can distress the animals, leading some sanctuaries to prohibit this activity.