A 22-year-old Spanish tourist has died after she was killed by an elephant while bathing the animal alongside her boyfriend.
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According to multiple Spanish media outlets, the tragic incident happened while the woman, identified as Blanca Ojanguren García, was cleaning the elephant at Koh Yao Elephant Care in Koh Yao Yai, Thailand, last week.
García, who was a law and international relations student at the University of Navarra, was pushed by the animal’s trunk. Nearly 20 people, including García’s boyfriend, were present for the attack, and no one else was injured.
Following the attack, García was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
The University of Navarra’s law faculty released a statement on Friday, Jan. 3, through X (formerly Twitter) confirming García’s death.
“The Faculty of Law expresses its sorrow for the death of our Law and International Relations student in Thailand,” the statement reads. “We share the grief of her family and ask for prayers for her soul.”
El Mundo further reported that Koh Yao Elephant Care remains closed following García’s shocking death. The owner told the media outlet that they have three elephants on-site. The animal involved in the attack was a 50-year-old female. She gets 10 to 30 daily visits.
Thailand Is Home to 15 Percent of the 52,000 Asian Elephants on Earth
Meanwhile, the animal rights organization World Animal Protection revealed that nearly 2,800 captive elephants live in tourism venues throughout Thailand.
The country is home to 15 percent of the 52,000 Asian elephants currently on the planet. It’s noted that between 3,100 and 3,600 can be found in 69 protected areas in Thailand.
“Around 2,798 captive elephants live in tourism venues across the country,” the organization shared. “To put this in context, nearly 75 percent of captive elephants are used for tourist entertainment in Asia.”
Unfortunately, the organization pointed out that the elephants are not treated well in Thailand.
“We assessed 3837 elephants in 357 venues across Asia and found that 63% were living in severely inadequate conditions,” the organization explained. “When not performing, they were restrained by short chains in noisy, dirty conditions, had poor diets, and received very limited medical care.”
The organization further noted that training the animals to perform tricks and activities for tourists is both unnatural and harmful.
“‘Trainers’ use cruel, punishment-based training, including hitting them with sticks or sharp metal objects,” World Animal Protection further added.