A 22-year-old Spanish woman, Blanca Ojanguren García, was tragically killed by an elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre in Thailand, local police reported. According to BBC the incident occurred, Friday 3 January, while García was bathing the animal, which unexpectedly gored her.
García, a law and international relations student at Spain’s University of Navarra, had been living in Taiwan as part of a student exchange program and was visiting Thailand with her boyfriend, who witnessed the attack.
Experts suggested that the elephant may have been stressed by its interactions with tourists, a common issue for animals kept outside their natural habitats.
Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, confirmed that the Spanish consulate in Bangkok is assisting García’s family.
Thailand is home to over 4,000 wild elephants and a similar number in captivity, according to the Department of National Parks. Activities like elephant bathing, offered by the Koh Yao centre, have been criticized by animal activists for contributing to stress and unnatural behaviors in the animals.
World Animal Protection said, ‘These intelligent and socially intricate animals endure profound suffering in captivity, as their natural social structures cannot be replicated artificially.’
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