Spanish student dies after being attacked by elephant in Thailand

[Thingamabob]

8 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

"Beautiful"?  Huh?  You may like them but, objectively, they are particularly ugly animals.

Not in my opinion. What is ugly is the appalling way they are treated in Thailand.

[impulse]

I don't think we all share the same definition of "domesticated".  To me, that means they don't have the ability to fend for themselves in the wild.  Whether they were born and raised captivity, and never learned the skills, or lost the ability to forage.  They can't survive in the wild without help, or worse- plundering farms.  That's in contrast to "tame", where they're safe to approach and interact with.

 

IMO, the sanctuary elephants are domesticated, but they'll never be fully tamed.  And that means they'd starve to death if just turned loose.  (Or they'd raid local farms).  Hardly a compassionate way to treat critters that we have domesticated.  Ideally, they'd be free to live their lives with help.  But that's expensive.  Sadly, that's self perpetuating since they breed in captivity and live for a loooong time.

 

[soalbundy]

8 hours ago, ryandb said:

It's very hard to fund the Elephant sancturies without the bathing activities but it should not be done. Elephants should be observed from afar by all tourists. I went to Sri Lanka a decade ago to watch the Gathering we trailed them with a guide from a distance, didn't once feed or interact with them.

So no bikini girls bathing them.....how boring, what pervert gets off watching elephants.

[MikeandDow]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

I don't think we all share the same definition of "domesticated".  To me, that means they don't have the ability to fend for themselves in the wild.  Whether they were born and raised captivity, and never learned the skills, or lost the ability to forage.  They can't survive in the wild without help, or worse- plundering farms.  That's in contrast to "tame", where they're safe to approach and interact with.

 

IMO, the sanctuary elephants are domesticated, but they'll never be fully tamed.  And that means they'd starve to death if just turned loose.  (Or they'd raid local farms).  Hardly a compassionate way to treat critters that we have domesticated.  Ideally, they'd be free to live their lives with help.  But that's expensive.  Sadly, that's self perpetuating since they breed in captivity and live for a loooong time.

 

An individual wild animal may be tamed, especially if you hand-rear it, and may learn to behave like a domesticated animal, but it will probably always be a bit flighty and excitable, and may bite if startled. Domestication means selectively breeding a species until they are born predisposed to be calm and tame, without humans having to make a big effort to tame them. Usually this means breeding them to retain adolescent behaviour all their lives, so that they never become “adult” and start challenging their human companions for dominance.

basically Taming is a term that applies to individuals, while domestication is a term that applies to groups of animals that have been selectively bred.

[Peabody]

11 hours ago, sikishrory said:

How about just leave the elephants alone

What should be done with the domesticated elephants? Many are former work elephants- logging, hauling, that sort of thing- that no longer have work. Their food is funded by touristic activities.

[PETERTHEEATER]

12 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Can you watch the girls for free or do you have to pay to watch them ?

You spent 'wash' incorrectly.😇

[GoodieAfterDark]

18 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Very common in Chiang Mai, foreign women in very small bikinis swimming and washing muddy elephants in the river at Mae Wang almost everyday.

 

Interesting. I think I will try to participate in this very noble activity. Obviously I will be the only man present.

[BusyB]

17 hours ago, Woke to Sounds of Horking said:

Reminds me of Sigfried and Roy and their gentle white tiger that took a bite outta one of them guys, also Grizzly Man, that crazy s.o.b. up in Alaska who got eaten alive by a grizzly.

 

You play with fire eventually you gonna get burned.

 

I love elephants, they are beautiful and intelligent but unpredictable.

 

Terribly sad story all round.

 

RIP

 

Fair enough comment in general. Agreed.

 

But this young woman probably wasn't 'playing with fire'. At least not knowingly. She was a bright eyed student newbie over from Taiwan for a few days. She saw a pamphlet and thought what a great way to be kind and get close to these wonderful animals and support a good cause.

 

She probably had no idea of the business or what it takes to tame elephants who regularly kill their mahouts.

 

 

[balo]

This is like a business for the locals, if tourists want to donate to the project fine , but stay away from the elephants. 

[ukrules]

I stay far away from any animal that's too large / heavy to pick up and throw and most things that bite.

[Foexie]

inhere it is an attack while in my newspaper they talk about a sudden move from the elephant what hit her head! patatoe potatoe i guess!!!

[DonniePeverley]

They promote these tours as ethical because you are not riding the elephant and see no chains - which makes said tourist feel better.

 

It's still exploitation, as most are still not free to roam around. 

 

None of us really know how the elephants are kept when away from tourist eyes. 

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

The tourists should be able to do what they want to do , that's why tourists go to Thailand

And then except the financial consequences or more?

[jimmybcool]

On 1/5/2025 at 4:11 PM, Jingthing said:

Very tragic.

I wasn't aware before of participating in elephant bathing being a tourist attraction. 

Without knowing the details it seems to me to be rather a questionable one. 

 

 

Kinda new to me too.  I mean I've seen where people can WATCH the mahouts bath the elephants but actually participate?  Hmmm.

[Mr Meeseeks]

20 hours ago, hellohello123 said:

Is it just me, but so much news out of thailand is drama

Tourists getting killed by other tourists

Tourists getting killed by locals

Tourists getting killed by animals

Tourists getting killed by traffic

Tourists getting killed by accidents

 

Paints a poor picture

 

Thailand isn't a safe country. It has always had very poor standards of health and safety and not much has changed in that regard in the 33 years I have lived and worked here. 

 

In the 90's and early 00's, Thailand was the most dangerous tourism destination for Brits, Aussies, and Swedes.

[Docno]

19 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Why should I have to do a Google search to verify your implausible assertion it is "unethical to bathe with elephants"...you're the one who needs to justify your claim!   Elephants have strong ethical standards, now, do they?

You don't understand what 'domesticated' means. These are captive elephants. They are not domesticated. Domestication is a long process that involves selective breeding over many generations. That's how we turned wolves into dogs ... over thousands of years. Elephants have not been selectively bred long enough (if at all!) to be considered 'domesticated'. [Also note that true domestication usually also results in incidental changes to physical features ... we don't see this in captive elephants]. 

[quake]

R.I.P lady.

Don't mess with Chang's.

Best to drink the Chang's, that come in green bottles. 

[SAFETY FIRST]

21 hours ago, hellohello123 said:

Is it just me, but so much news out of thailand is drama

Tourists getting killed by other tourists

Tourists getting killed by locals

Tourists getting killed by animals

Tourists getting killed by traffic

Tourists getting killed by accidents

 

Paints a poor picture

Same happens in other countries that has high tourism. 

 

[connda]

"Let's go to Thailand and pet tigers and wash elephants."

Read through that a few dozen time to let it sink in about how bad those ideas sound.

"Ok, let's go zip-lineing!!!"

What a grand idea. 

[MikeandDow]

23 minutes ago, Docno said:

You don't understand what 'domesticated' means. These are captive elephants. They are not domesticated. Domestication is a long process that involves selective breeding over many generations. That's how we turned wolves into dogs ... over thousands of years. Elephants have not been selectively bred long enough (if at all!) to be considered 'domesticated'. [Also note that true domestication usually also results in incidental changes to physical features ... we don't see this in captive elephants]. 

correct about Elephants wrong about Dogs !!!  Dogs do not come from wolves  Wrong DNA  From

How Wolf Became Dog

Scientific American

"Analyzing whole genomes of living dogs and wolves, last January's study revealed that today's Fidos are not the descendants of modern gray wolves. Instead the two species are sister taxa, descended from an unknown ancestor that has since gone extinct."

[kiwikeith]

On 1/6/2025 at 6:28 AM, daveAustin said:

… or ill treated. On a trek in the north years ago, mahout repeatedly whacking the thing and it just had enough and charged into the jungle with us on its back, knocking into trees and other riders. Pretty scary. Took ages for it to calm down. They’re sensitive beasts, easily spooked. Always weary around them, trunk alone can do huge damage.  
 

What a thing to happen to the young lass. 😢

What you mention happened to my son and myself the Elephant handler was hitting the Elephant around the ears with a metal hook, this was hurting the Elephant and it bolted, we were terrified the handler managed to slow the Elephant down and we were able to get off, I gave the handler and his management a fair mouthful, but nothing sunk in, articles about cruelty from handlers have been in the news many times over the years and nothing is done, I would never ride or go near an elephant again, they are mistreated beautiful intelligent beasts that don't need this. 

[terryofcrete]

On 1/6/2025 at 4:40 AM, hellohello123 said:

Is it just me, but so much news out of thailand is drama

Tourists getting killed by other tourists

Tourists getting killed by locals

Tourists getting killed by animals

Tourists getting killed by traffic

Tourists getting killed by accidents

 

Paints a poor picture

Tourist killed by Paint ! 

[MikeandDow]

https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/latest/blogs/thailand-elephants/

[orchidfan]

On 1/6/2025 at 11:44 AM, Peterphuket said:

How about the Australian guy, Erwin was his name? Also playing with animals, died from a stingray's sting

Irwin....

[Neeranam]

On 1/6/2025 at 11:40 AM, ignore it said:

Mom always said never bother an animal that is pooping, eating or having sex.

 

Why would you want to?

[Neeranam]

3 hours ago, kiwikeith said:

I gave the handler and his management a fair mouthful, but nothing sunk in

erm, were you on top the elephant? Do you think they like carrying strangers?

[Neeranam]

18 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

Not in my opinion. What is ugly is the appalling way they are treated in Thailand.

In my experience they are treated well. 

Much better in than 20/30 years ago when they were allowed to go into major cities for the tourists to feed for money.

[MikeandDow]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

In my experience they are treated well. 

Much better in than 20/30 years ago when they were allowed to go into major cities for the tourists to feed for money.

if you think they are treated well you best read this and open you eyes

https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/latest/blogs/thailand-elephants/

[Thingamabob]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

In my experience they are treated well. 

Much better in than 20/30 years ago when they were allowed to go into major cities for the tourists to feed for money.

You are correct regarding major cities. Elsewhere, however, they are still treated with unforgivable cruelty.