Mahout charged after ‘stressed’ elephant kills Spanish tourist in Thailand

Blanca Ojanguren Garcia was bathing the animal when it gored her

Police in Thailand have charged a mahout with negligence after an elephant under his care gored a Spanish tourist at a sanctuary last week.

Theerayut Inthaphudkij, 38, is the caretaker of the female elephant, called Pgang Somboon, responsible for the fatal injury to the tourist, Phang Nga Tourism and Sports Office said.

Blanca Ojanguren Garcia, 23, a student holidaying with her boyfriend in southern Thailand, was attacked by the animal while she was giving it a bath on 3 January. She died in hospital later.

The mahout faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 baht (£4,642).

According to eyewitnesses, the elephant was startled when Garcia moved in front of it and pushed her into the concrete edge of the pond with her tusk.

Animal behaviour experts said the elephant likely got stressed from interacting with visitors outside its ecosystem.

A couple rides an elephant at the Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Chonburi province of Thailand (REUTERS)

Garcia’s death has put a spotlight on elephant tourism in the southeast Asian country where activists claim elephants are trained using cruel methods to interact with visitors.

Activists say the animals are often kept in isolation, chained and made to perform tricks and other activities. They allege that the trainers often use methods involving hitting and lashing.

Blanca Ojanguren Garcia arrived in Thailand on 26 December (Colegio de Fomento Pinoalbar)

García was studying law and international relations at the University of Navarra in Spain, but living in Taiwan under an Erasmus academic exchange programme.

She had travelled to Thailand on 26 December with her partner, an infantry cadet from Oviedo in Spain.

Her body has been sent for an autopsy and authorities have contacted her relatives in Spain.

A mother elephant with her newborn twins in Ayutthaya province of Thailand (AP)

This is not the first time Thailand has reported such an incident.

In 2017, an elephant killed a Chinese tour guide and injured two visitors in the Thai beach town of Pattaya. The mahout of the elephant and the camp owner were subsequently charged with negligence causing death in that case.