An authority on Asian elephants is sounding the alarm about “elephant sanctuaries” after a tourist was killed while visiting one in Thailand.
Blanca Ojanguren García, 22, a law student on the University of Navarra, died last week.
She was bathing an elephant named Phang Somboon at Koh Yao Elephant Care when the 45-year-old animal killed her, in line with Spanish media.
Around 18 people were on the sanctuary on the time, including the victim’s boyfriend, the corporate told Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
No other visitors were injured, and Phang Somboon’s handler was later arrested for negligence, in line with Thai authorities.
Other details concerning the incident, akin to how the animals were treated, are still unknown.
However the incident raises questions on how secure elephant sanctuaries, which lure tourists with guarantees of getting up close with the animals, really are.
Duncan McNair, the CEO of London-based charity Save the Asian Elephants, spoke with Fox News Digital concerning the tragedy and warned that tourists should think twice before visiting one.
“‘Sanctuary,’ a bit like ‘havens’ and ‘orphanages,’ is a really nasty term that is frequently devoid of meaning or actually devoid of accuracy,” McNair said.
“The overwhelming majority of sanctuaries in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, and Cambodia … should not ethical. They’re brutal, and so they do all of it for money.”
It remains to be unknown why the elephant struck García, or how the sanctuary’s handlers treated the creature before the killing.
But McNair said while it’s possible the elephant was unaware of its strength, it was more likely lashing out against the conditions it was kept in.
“[The trunk] is an awfully diverse and sturdy organ that’s multipurpose,” McNair explained. “An elephant doesn’t randomly lash around or swing around with its trunk. … It’s wholly unlikely that this was an accident.
“So why did it occur? Well, in fact, since the elephant, which was like just about all elephants in captivity for business exploitation, was being kept in a very unnatural state, in extreme stress.”
He emphasized that, though elephants are gentle and intelligent animals, their “calmness” doesn’t mean they’re tamed.
They usually can snap at any threat or stressor they perceive, even a well-meaning tourist.
“Elephants are wild animals. … They’re kept in captivity, having been brutalized into submission,” McNair explained. “But that doesn’t mean they’re tamed. It simply signifies that they’re terrified for spans of time.
“In the event that they see their probability, or in the event that they’re overstressed, they are going to attack and kill.”
The animal rights advocate noted that while elephants are “wondrous and sophisticated” herbivores, they are going to still respond aggressively once they are threatened.
“They react, sometimes extremely, when something flashes across their corner of vision,” McNair explained. “And, so, to place an elephant that’s been abused in captivity probably for a long time, in exact proximity with a young woman who’s probably got little or no experience of elephants and no proper training, is an absolute recipe for disaster.”
McNair, who also works as a company lawyer, also noted that the mistreatment of elephants begins before the animals step foot into sanctuaries.
Elephants are sometimes snatched by poachers who commit atrocities starting from killing moms in front of their children to repeatedly stabbing baby elephants into submission.
“With elephants who’ve been brutalized and abused to be used in tourism, they’re extremely dangerous. … Not only are these activities so catastrophic for the elephants, they’re deadly dangerous for humans,” he said.
Through Save the Asian Elephants, McNair has advocated for laws to stop abusive practices against animals, akin to the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act that passed within the British Parliament in 2023. This work also recently led to his being named a Legal Hero of the 12 months 2024 by the Law Society of England and Wales.
Now, he and other animal advocates are scrutinizing tourism corporations that encourage unethical treatment of elephants.
Some sanctuaries do treat elephants ethically, McNair said, and he advised that tourists do research before booking their trips for each their very own safety and the protection of the elephants.
“[We want] to attempt to steer the market of animal tourism from brutal to moral,” McNair explained. “That’s the actual intention, not to shut down travel corporations, nothing like that. It’s to assist the animals and to assist individuals who need to generate income out of animal tourism. … That’s superb, but be ethical about it.”
An authority on Asian elephants is sounding the alarm about “elephant sanctuaries” after a tourist was killed while visiting one in Thailand.
Blanca Ojanguren García, 22, a law student on the University of Navarra, died last week.
She was bathing an elephant named Phang Somboon at Koh Yao Elephant Care when the 45-year-old animal killed her, in line with Spanish media.
Around 18 people were on the sanctuary on the time, including the victim’s boyfriend, the corporate told Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
No other visitors were injured, and Phang Somboon’s handler was later arrested for negligence, in line with Thai authorities.
Other details concerning the incident, akin to how the animals were treated, are still unknown.
However the incident raises questions on how secure elephant sanctuaries, which lure tourists with guarantees of getting up close with the animals, really are.
Duncan McNair, the CEO of London-based charity Save the Asian Elephants, spoke with Fox News Digital concerning the tragedy and warned that tourists should think twice before visiting one.
“‘Sanctuary,’ a bit like ‘havens’ and ‘orphanages,’ is a really nasty term that is frequently devoid of meaning or actually devoid of accuracy,” McNair said.
“The overwhelming majority of sanctuaries in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, and Cambodia … should not ethical. They’re brutal, and so they do all of it for money.”
It remains to be unknown why the elephant struck García, or how the sanctuary’s handlers treated the creature before the killing.
But McNair said while it’s possible the elephant was unaware of its strength, it was more likely lashing out against the conditions it was kept in.
“[The trunk] is an awfully diverse and sturdy organ that’s multipurpose,” McNair explained. “An elephant doesn’t randomly lash around or swing around with its trunk. … It’s wholly unlikely that this was an accident.
“So why did it occur? Well, in fact, since the elephant, which was like just about all elephants in captivity for business exploitation, was being kept in a very unnatural state, in extreme stress.”
He emphasized that, though elephants are gentle and intelligent animals, their “calmness” doesn’t mean they’re tamed.
They usually can snap at any threat or stressor they perceive, even a well-meaning tourist.
“Elephants are wild animals. … They’re kept in captivity, having been brutalized into submission,” McNair explained. “But that doesn’t mean they’re tamed. It simply signifies that they’re terrified for spans of time.
“In the event that they see their probability, or in the event that they’re overstressed, they are going to attack and kill.”
The animal rights advocate noted that while elephants are “wondrous and sophisticated” herbivores, they are going to still respond aggressively once they are threatened.
“They react, sometimes extremely, when something flashes across their corner of vision,” McNair explained. “And, so, to place an elephant that’s been abused in captivity probably for a long time, in exact proximity with a young woman who’s probably got little or no experience of elephants and no proper training, is an absolute recipe for disaster.”
McNair, who also works as a company lawyer, also noted that the mistreatment of elephants begins before the animals step foot into sanctuaries.
Elephants are sometimes snatched by poachers who commit atrocities starting from killing moms in front of their children to repeatedly stabbing baby elephants into submission.
“With elephants who’ve been brutalized and abused to be used in tourism, they’re extremely dangerous. … Not only are these activities so catastrophic for the elephants, they’re deadly dangerous for humans,” he said.
Through Save the Asian Elephants, McNair has advocated for laws to stop abusive practices against animals, akin to the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act that passed within the British Parliament in 2023. This work also recently led to his being named a Legal Hero of the 12 months 2024 by the Law Society of England and Wales.
Now, he and other animal advocates are scrutinizing tourism corporations that encourage unethical treatment of elephants.
Some sanctuaries do treat elephants ethically, McNair said, and he advised that tourists do research before booking their trips for each their very own safety and the protection of the elephants.
“[We want] to attempt to steer the market of animal tourism from brutal to moral,” McNair explained. “That’s the actual intention, not to shut down travel corporations, nothing like that. It’s to assist the animals and to assist individuals who need to generate income out of animal tourism. … That’s superb, but be ethical about it.”
