Elephant kills Scottish tourist on Koh Samui

[webfact]

Tourist killed by elephant gone wild on trekking tour in Koh Samui



KOH SAMUI: -- At 2-30pm yesterday a man was killed by an elephant he was riding when it went wild during a trekking tour. Early reports suggest the victim man killed by a 36 year old man from Scotland elephant trekking his daughter who was also badly injured in the incident.

An eye witness report suggests the man, who had a prosthetic leg, had been teasing the elephant with a banana that he offered to the beast before taking it back.

The elephant, who was reportedly hot and tried, became agitated unseated and attacked the man, goring him in the right side of the chest with its tusk.

His daughter managed to run and escape the main brutality of the attack. The man died at the scene. The elephant then fled the scene it is unclear whether or not the elephant has been captured at time of publication.


-- Samui Times 2016-02-02

[webfact]

Elephant Kills Scottish Tourist on Koh Samui

KOH SAMUI – A Scottish man has been killed and a mahout seriously injured by an elephant gone berserk during a trekking tour on Koh Samui.

The 36-year-old Scottish tourist was riding the male elephant with his 16-year-old daughter in a forested area of tambon Bor Phud this afternoon when, witnesses told police, Pamang, a Myanmar mahout, climbed down from 13-year-old elephant to take photos with the victim and his daughter.

The elephant struck Pamang with his trunk and stabbed him in the torso with a tusk.

The elephant then unseated the Scotsman and his daughter, then stomped the Scotsman and gored him in the chest with a tusk, killing him instantly. The bull elephant then ran into the forest.

Full story: http://www.chiangraitimes.com/elephant-kills-scottish-tourist-on-koh-samui.html


-- Chiang Rai Times 2016-02-02

[kandi]

In other reports it's the mahout who's at fault:

http://www.farang-deaths.com/case/gareth-crowe/

[webfact]

British tourist killed by elephant on trek in Thailand
Ben Quinn

36-year-old Gareth Crowe, from Scotland, was on holiday with his family on Koh Samui when the animal turned on its handler

LONDON: -- A British tourist has been killed after he was thrown from an elephant during a trek in Thailand.

Gareth Crowe, 36, was taking part in a trek on the island of Koh Samui when the animal turned on its handler, according to local reports. He was on holiday in Thailand with his family.

A 16-year-old girl, the daughter of Crowe’s partner, was injured after she also fell to the ground.

Witnesses said the elephant – known as Golf – grew angry after its handler climbed down to take photographs, refusing to follow his instructions. The handler is said to have hit the elephant several times, which then stabbed him with a tusk before rising up and throwing the tourists off.

Full story: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/01/british-tourist-killed-by-elephant-on-trek-in-thailand

-- The Guardian 2016-02-02

[NeverSure]

RIP.

[webfact]

British tourist killed by elephant in front of daughter, 16, on Koh Samui in Thailand
By Agency

Elephant tramples Scottish man, 36, before goring him to death with tusk when it turns violent as guide takes photos of pair who were on its back

LONDON: -- A British tourist has been killed by an elephant in front of his teenage daughter in Thailand.

The man, 36-year-old Gareth Crowe, was trekking on the elephant with his 16-year-old daughter, Eilidh Hughes, and a local guide on the tropical island of Koh Samui when it turned violent.

Witnesses said the mahout - the elephant's handler - climbed down to take photos of the tourists, believed to be from Scotland, when it hit him with its trunk and stabbed him in his body with a tusk.

The elephant is then said to have rampaged, throwing the father and daughter off his back before trampling the man and stabbing him in the chest with a tusk, killing him instantly.

Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/12134716/British-tourist-killed-by-elephant-on-Ko-Samui-island-Thailand.html

-- The Telegraph 2016-02-02

[petedk]

According to the Telegraph and The Guardian, the daughter said her father didn't tease the elephant.

[terryp]

very sad , i hope his dautghter fully recovers

[jucel]

The mahout hit the elephant several times with a hook to calm it down/discipline it!

It then went berserk.

[asdecas]

Advice from World Animal Protection:

"Elephants are not meant to be ridden"

"A spokeswoman said: “Elephants are cruelly abused to tame them enough so they give rides and perform in shows.

“Most tourists don’t know about these abuses, or the potential danger they put themselves in.

"If you can ride it, hug it or have a selfie with a wild animal, then the chances are it is cruel and the animal is suffering.”

[cumgranosalum]

Very sad.

Elephants on Samui? Really? When would an island have an elephant population? Was there logging there?I suspect they are just shipped over for the simple aim of exploitation in pursuit the tourist dollar.

Where have these elephants come from?

It's about time that Thailand faced up to its abuses of animal rights.

it is about time that tourists educated themselves on animal abuse before coming to destinations like Thailand.

Rule of thumb -= if you can ride it, it's being exploited.

[canuckamuck]

First mistake is using male elephants with tourists. You'll find most, if not all the accounts of elephant attacks in Thailand involve male elephants.

Second mistake is the level of training and intelligence of the mahouts.

But perhaps they feel that losing a tourist or two every year to angry elephants is a reasonable cost of doing business.

[Stump]

The elephant then fled the scene it is unclear whether or not the elephant has been captured.

DELETED

[jacko45k]

Fleeing the scene seems to be a common result here!

I stopped getting involved with elephants here when I saw the blood dripping from one after the mahouts use of the hooked stick.

[LoongJohn]

Elephants should not be ridden and they should definitely not be disciplined with the bullhook - it's sheer cruelty.

[Herestaeusall]

R.I.P. fellow Jock, and hope the young lass recovers well.

[SOTIRIOS]

...never heard of an elephant going crazy because .....'it was teased with a banana'......

...also seems that there are 2 versions of what happened.....

...sorry for the daughter and her father.....

...I cannot see how they can suggest the riders were at fault.....

[henry15]

An elephant is no horse, nor domesticated. You should leave that beautifull and highly intelligent were ot belongs. And this in his natural habitat.

[recycler]

Very sad.

Elephants on Samui? Really? When would an island have an elephant population? Was there logging there?I suspect they are just shipped over for the simple aim of exploitation in pursuit the tourist dollar.

Where have these elephants come from?

It's about time that Thailand faced up to its abuses of animal rights.

it is about time that tourists educated themselves on animal abuse before coming to destinations like Thailand.

Rule of thumb -= if you can ride it, it's being exploited.

From an elephant temple?

[cumgranosalum]

First mistake is using male elephants with tourists. You'll find most, if not all the accounts of elephant attacks in Thailand involve male elephants.

Second mistake is the level of training and intelligence of the mahouts.

But perhaps they feel that losing a tourist or two every year to angry elephants is a reasonable cost of doing business.

Both male and female elephants are known to attack people .

A "broken" elephant is already psychologically damaged.....

what I think you are referring to is "musth" which is a period that affects male elephants and can make them extremely unpredictable and aggressive - not just to humns but anything including other elephants.

As yet I've not read anything to suggest this elephant was in musth.......it also depends on the age of the elephant

[cumgranosalum]

Very sad.

Elephants on Samui? Really? When would an island have an elephant population? Was there logging there?I suspect they are just shipped over for the simple aim of exploitation in pursuit the tourist dollar.

Where have these elephants come from?

It's about time that Thailand faced up to its abuses of animal rights.

it is about time that tourists educated themselves on animal abuse before coming to destinations like Thailand.

Rule of thumb -= if you can ride it, it's being exploited.

From an elephant temple?

What "temple"?

[jalansanitwong]

They have elephants on that little island ? Its was obviously brought there to make a quick buck.

Several years ago a British father of two watched in horror as both his daughters were turned to jam by an angry elephant .

An elephant is a 5 tonne dumb animal with an equally stupid mahout riding it.

Animal tourism is a 3 rd world rip off. None of these animals or reptiles ask to be treated like tourist trinkets.

People never get the hint. There are certain things you never do in Thailand. Dont ride motorbikes,dont ride elephants,dont kiss snakes and dont drink moonshine or use drugs. Ignore these facts and youre asking for trouble.

[raphoedon]

RIP my country man, I hope they do not decide to something awful to the elephant to keep TAT and the animal rights people appeased.

To the "riding animals" brigade are you serious?

Without the help of elephants, horses, donkeys this modern world we have would still be in the dark ages.

I abhor the abuse of animals in Thailand, or anywhere else in the world.

Mahuts love their Elephants, it's a relationship that can Span decades, do not deride these guys or their majestic mounts!

[soalbundy]

The elephant was only a teenager

[Transporter]

I expect the Mahout's sleep will return to normal as soon as the elephant is found and returned.

Sincerest condolences to the family and RIP innocent tourist.

Others be warned.

[luckyman]

Advice from World Animal Protection:

"Elephants are not meant to be ridden"

"A spokeswoman said: “Elephants are cruelly abused to tame them enough so they give rides and perform in shows.

“Most tourists don’t know about these abuses, or the potential danger they put themselves in.

"If you can ride it, hug it or have a selfie with a wild animal, then the chances are it is cruel and the animal is suffering.”

That is why I always recommend visiting friends to stay away from Elephant Camps.

They hardly ever listen though....

[mikiea]

RIP

[kamahele]

Terribly sad news no matter who is at fault. I personally don't believe that elephants should be used for entertainment such as this. In this case a man has died and his child was hurt badly but in general, using elephants for this type of work is much worse for the elephants than humans.

[cumgranosalum]

RIP my country man, I hope they do not decide to something awful to the elephant to keep TAT and the animal rights people appeased.

To the "riding animals" brigade are you serious?

Without the help of elephants, horses, donkeys this modern world we have would still be in the dark ages.

I abhor the abuse of animals in Thailand, or anywhere else in the world.

Mahuts love their Elephants, it's a relationship that can Span decades, do not deride these guys or their majestic mounts!

yes -we are serious - you are making the classic assumptions that ill-informed make about elephants.

First mistake: they are NOT comparable with other "domesticated" beasts of burden

They have been used for riding (and even war) but their skeletons are not suited to bearing loads on their backs.

Their main use has always been for PULLING which is a completely different thing.

You imply that the history of the elephant goes back millennia - this is actually not true - they just weren't very good at it and in those days people had know idea about how an elephant's body worked (or any other body for that matter). They had no explanation for the not uncommon paralysis in elephants that had been repeatedly forced to carry stuff on their backs. You will still see elephants today that have paralyzed rear legs etc. due to this.

Then you speak the unspeakable........

"Mahouts love their Elephants, it's a relationship that can Span decades, do not deride these guys or their majestic mounts!" - in Thailand THIS IS ABSOLUTE NONSENSE!!!

most "mahouts" - and they really don't deserve this name are employed part-time or short term - they are only partially "trained" and in reality just know a series of often violent actions to make their elephants perform for the public.

Often elephants are owned by an owner who LEASES them to a "mahout" who then takes the animal away long or short term to make money out of it any way he can. There are few laws to protect the animal; they are no more than chattels. Even in genuine conservation parks, the relationship between minder and elephant is often only short term as the pay is simply not enough to keep a young man and his family.

The idea of a long mahout/elephant relationship is just a "Kipling myth".

In the west we all abhor animal cruelty; the problem is so many in the west are too ignorant of the issues to recognise it when they see it.

[bark]

Sad for the family.