An expert on Asian elephants is sounding the alarm about “elephant sanctuaries” after a tourist was killed while visiting one in Thailand.
Blanca Ojanguren García, 22, a law student at the University of Navarra, died last week.
She was bathing an elephant named Phang Somboon at Koh Yao Elephant Care when the 45-year-old animal killed her, according to Spanish media.
About 18 people were in the sanctuary at the time, including the victim’s boyfriend, the company told Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
No other visitors were injured and Phang Somboon’s handler was later arrested for negligence, according to Thai authorities.
Other details about the event, such as the treatment of the animals, are not yet known.
But the incident raises questions about how safe elephant sites are, which lure tourists with promises of getting close to the animals.
Duncan McNair, CEO of London-based charity Save the Asian Elephants, spoke to Fox News Digital about the tragedy and warned that tourists should think twice before visiting one.
“‘Sanctuary,’ a bit like ‘paradise’ and ‘orphanage,’ is a very bad term that usually has no meaning or certainly no precision,” McNair said.
“The vast majority of sanctuaries in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam and Cambodia … are not ethical. They are brutal and do it all for money.”
It is not yet known why the elephant struck García, or how the sanctuary’s caretakers treated the creature before the killing.
But McNair said that while it’s possible the elephant was unaware of its strength, it was more likely to attack given the conditions in which it was kept.
“[The trunk] it is an extremely diverse and stable body that has many purposes,” explained McNair. “An elephant doesn’t randomly swing around or swing its trunk. … It’s completely impossible for this to be an accident.
“So why did it happen? Well, of course, because the elephant, which was almost like all elephants in captivity for commercial exploitation, was being kept in a completely unnatural condition, under extreme stress.”
He stressed that, although elephants are gentle and intelligent animals, their “quietness” does not mean they are tame.
And they can strike at any threat or stress they perceive, even a well-intentioned tourist.
“Elephants are wild animals. … They are held in captivity, having been brutalized into submission,” McNair explained. “But that doesn’t mean they’ve mellowed out. It just means they are terrified for periods of time.
“If they see their chance, or if they are stressed, they will attack and kill.”
The animal rights activist noted that while elephants are “remarkable and complex” herbivores, they will still respond aggressively when threatened.
“They react, sometimes extremely, when something shines in their field of vision,” McNair explained. “And, so, putting an elephant that has been abused in captivity for maybe decades in close proximity to a young woman who probably has very little experience with elephants and no proper training is an absolute recipe for disaster.”
McNair, who also works as a corporate attorney, also noted that elephant abuse begins before the animals even set foot in sanctuaries.
Elephants are often kidnapped by poachers who commit atrocities ranging from killing mothers in front of their children to repeatedly stabbing baby elephants into submission.
“With elephants being brutalized and abused for use in tourism, they are extremely dangerous. … These activities are not only so disastrous for elephants, they are also deadly for humans,” he said.
Through Save the Asian Elephants, McNair has advocated for legislation to stop abusive practices against animals, such as the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act that passed the British Parliament in 2023. This work also recently led him to was named Legal Hero of the Year 2024 by the Law Society of England and Wales.
Now, he and other animal advocates are investigating tourism companies that encourage the unethical treatment of elephants.
Some sanctuaries treat elephants ethically, McNair said, and he advised that tourists do research before booking their trips for both their own safety and the safety of the elephants.
“[We want] to try to drive the animal tourism market from brutal to ethical,” explained McNair. “That’s the real goal, not shutting down travel companies, nothing like that. It is to help animals and to help people who want to make money from animal tourism. … That’s fine, but be ethical about it.”
#Expert #warns #Americans #elephant #tourism #law #student #killed #Thailand #Recipe #disaster
Image Source : nypost.com