Thailand
Working elephant attacks and kills its owner – probably because of unusual heat
An Asian elephant
© Panompon-Jaturavittawong / Getty Images
Elephants are generally peaceful animals. But in Thailand, for the second time in just a few months, there has been a deadly attack by animals on their keepers.
Elephants are actually known for their peaceful nature – but in exceptional cases, even the pachyderms, who are actually so relaxed, can have dangerous outbursts of anger. If they see their herd in danger or have already had bad experiences with humans, for example. A terrible incident occurred in Thailand: a 20-year-old elephant killed its owner. The reason, according to experts, was probably the unusual heat.
In Thailand, elephants are occasionally still used as working animals, including the bull in question. He helped his 32-year-old owner mahout called, at work on a rubber plantation. But on the day of the accident it was unusually hot, even by Thai standards. Animal rights activists suspect that the elephant may not have received enough food and especially water, which is why he became stressed and angry when he had to work hard in the heat.
Elephant attacked its owner
As the mahout Supachai Wongfaed still wanted to urge the animal to continue working, the elephant suddenly attacked the man: According to police reports, the 32-year-old suffered several serious stab wounds from the bull’s tusks. He did not survive the attack. The elephant was shot with tranquilizer darts to allow police to retrieve the man’s lifeless body. It is still unclear what will happen next to the animal.
A fatal incident involving an elephant had already occurred in Thailand last month. It was also suspected that the workload was too great for the animal and that it was due to the enormous stress mahout attack. Although the use of elephants has a long tradition in Thai agriculture, there seems to be an urgent need to review and improve the conditions of animal husbandry and work so that such fatal accidents no longer occur.
Source: “The Independent”