Spanish tourist killed by elephant while on holiday in Thailand
The tragedy at the elephant care centre has highlighted animal welfare concerns
A 22-year-old Spanish tourist, Blanca Ojanguren García, was killed last Friday by an elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre in Thailand while participating in a bathing activity. Local police described the elephant as “panic-stricken” during the incident, which occurred as García washed the animal.García, a law and international relations student at Spain’s University of Navarra, was on holiday in Thailand with her boyfriend, who witnessed the tragic event. She had been living in Taiwan as part of a student exchange programme.
Experts suggested to Spanish newspaper Clarín that the elephant may have been stressed due to its interaction with tourists outside its natural habitat. Animal welfare organisations have long criticised elephant tourism activities, arguing that they can cause unnecessary stress and disrupt natural behaviours.
Bathing elephants is a popular tourist attraction in Thailand, which is home to over 4,000 wild elephants and a similar number in captivity. The Koh Yao centre offers “elephant care” packages that allow visitors to feed, bathe and walk with the animals for prices ranging from 1,900 to 2,900 baht (€53–€80).
World Animal Protection, an international charity, has repeatedly called for an end to breeding elephants in captivity and the use of elephants for tourism. The charity reports that more than 60% of captive elephants used for tourism in Asia live in “severely inadequate” conditions.
“These intelligent and socially intricate animals, capable of complex thoughts and emotions, endure profound suffering in captivity as their natural social structures cannot be replicated artificially,” the organisation stated.
Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, confirmed that the Spanish consulate in Bangkok is providing assistance to García’s family. Efforts to contact the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre for comment have so far been unsuccessful.
In August, there was a high-profile case in which a Spanish man, the son of a celebrity, was jailed for life in Thailand for the murder of his Colombian lover.
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