An elephant killed a tourist on Saturday in Kruger Park, one of the largest reserves in the worldannounced the South African national parks agency SANParks.
“A tourist was attacked and trampled by an elephant (…) The accident unfortunately resulted in the death of the victim,” the agency said in a statement.
Due to the “sensitive nature” of the accident SANParks asked to “refrain from posting or sharing photos and videos” on social media.
According to the police report, the victim, a 59 year old south africandied at one of the park’s busiest gates when he was trying to save two of his grandchildren, ages 5 and 11, who were attacked by the elephant while they were taking photographs and videos of the animal.
As the children fled, they fell to the ground and the animal attacked the 11-year-old with his trunk.
“It was when the grandfather was trying to help him… that the elephant turned around and trampled him before leaving,” police said, indicating that the boy suffered some injuries to his leg.
Kruger Park, which includes 20,000 km2 of unfenced savanna and extends to Mozambique, it is the largest national park in South Africa and very popular with safari lovers.
This prohibited from getting out of your vehicle during the visit except in fenced areas and in some picnic areas.
Elephant attacks are not uncommon in the region. In 2021, an elephant killed a suspected poacher in the same park.
In Zimbabwe 50 people died in 2023 alone and 85 were injured by wild animals, mainly elephants.
