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A tragic incident occurred at a national park in Thailand when a 65-year-old tourist was fatally trampled by a wild bull elephant, park officials reported on Monday.
The unfortunate encounter took place during a morning stroll with his wife at Khao Yai National Park, when the elephant, known as Oyewan, attacked, as confirmed by the park’s chief, Chaiya Huayhongthong, to AFP.
Park rangers intervened to drive the elephant away, allowing the man’s wife to flee to safety, Chaiya noted.
“Oyewan has been responsible for the deaths of three individuals,” he stated, mentioning that a meeting is scheduled for Friday to determine the next steps regarding the elephant’s behavior.
In December 2021, the entrance to Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand was captured in a photograph. (Carola Frentzen/picture alliance via Getty Images)
“We will probably decide to relocate him or change his behavior,” he told the outlet, without elaborating.
The tourist killed was identified as Jirathachai Jiraphatboonyathorn from Lopburi province, the Bangkok Post reported.
A Thai boy washes an elephant near the Khao Yai national park on March 19, 2017, in Pak Chong, Thailand. (Isa Foltin/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Khao Yai National Park but did not immediately hear back.
An elephant bull stands in the Ban Ta Klang elephant village in Surin, Thailand, on Nov. 14, 2015. (Ian Robert Knight/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Wild elephants have caused an estimated 227 human fatalities between 2012 and 2024 in Thailand, The Nation reported, citing a report from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation.
The elephant population in Thailand has ballooned since 2015, rising from 334 to nearly 800 last year, AFP reported. Authorities have been trying to manage the population by giving female elephants contraceptive vaccines.