A “panic-stricken” elephant killed a Spanish woman while she was washing the animal at an elephant center in Thailand, local police said.
Blanca Ojanguren García, 22, was washing the elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Center last Friday when she was fatally struck by the animal.
Experts told the Spanish-language newspaper Clarín that the elephant might have been stressed from having to interact with tourists outside its natural habitat.
García, a law and international relations student at the Spanish University of Navarra, was living in Taiwan as part of a student exchange program. She was visiting Thailand with her boyfriend, who witnessed the attack.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said that the Spanish consulate in Bangkok was assisting García’s family.
Washing elephants is a popular activity among tourists in Thailand, which is home to more than 4,000 wild elephants and a similar number kept in captivity, according to the Department of National Parks.
The Koh Yao Center offers “elephant care” packages, allowing tourists to prepare food and feed the animals, as well as bathe and walk with them.
These packages cost between 1,900 baht ($55; £44) and 2,900 baht.
Animal rights activists have previously criticized elephant bathing activities, pointing out that they disrupt natural grooming behaviors and expose the animals to unnecessary stress and potential injuries.
World Animal Protection, an international charity, has for years called on countries, including Thailand, to ban the breeding of elephants in captivity.
More than six in 10 elephants used for tourism in Asia live in “very unsuitable conditions,” the charity stated.
“These intelligent and socially complex animals, capable of experiencing complex thoughts and emotions, endure profound suffering in captivity, as their natural social structures cannot be artificially replicated,” the charity said.
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