A Thai elephant killed his keeper and then proceeded to run off with three tourists still on its back.
According to the Daily Mail , elephants have long been used as a tourist attraction in Thailand . However, their use has come under fire once again after an elephant went “berserk” on Wednesday, August 26, killing its “mahout” keeper before riding off into the jungle in Chiang Mai with three terrified Chinese tourists, two parents and their young child, still aboard.
Thankfully, the tourists were soon rescued by the other elephant keepers . While they were obviously traumatized after seeing their guide being killed and fearing for their lives, they were unharmed by the giant animal.
“The mahout who was killed was Karen and he was not familiar with the elephant. They (the tourists) are safe now,” Colonel Thawatchai Thepboon, police commander of Mae Wang district in Chiang Mai province, told the Agence France-Presse , reported via Yahoo News .
The site reports that a Karen is an “ethnic minority widespread in northern Thailand.”
According to the police, the incident took place at approximately 9:30 a.m. while the family was riding on the back of a male elephant. The elephant had not taken well to and was not familiar with its rider, and it turned on him, essentially goring him to death. The other keepers were eventually able to calm him down and led him back with the tourists still riding atop.
While it is currently not known why the elephant suddenly freaked out, the use of elephants has long been criticized by animal rights groups, who say that it is cruel and stressful on the animals.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, the use of elephants came after logging was banned in 1989 , and many people found themselves out of work. Therefore, they turned to the elephants as a way to make steady income.
The Wildlife Friends of Thailand have kept track of the many instances where the approximately 4,000 domesticated elephants were overworked and overwhelmed. There are only about 2,500 elephants currently left in the wild.
“Elephants work every day, of every month, basically 365 days per year,” Edwin Wiek, a campaigner with the group, said. “If you had to do the same, you would get stressed. It is the same for elephants. At some point they become crazy and we can’t control them.”
Do you think Thailand should use the elephants as a tourist attraction? Leave your comments below.
[Photo via Shutterstock]
