Summary
Blanca Ojanguren, a 22-year-old Spanish tourist, was fatally attacked by an elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care sanctuary in Thailand while bathing the animal.
She was struck by its tusk, resulting in fatal injuries.
This tragedy highlights the risks of popular recreational activities involving elephants in Thailand.
It follows a recent fatal attack by a wild elephant on a Thai woman and adds to the 39 elephant-related deaths reported in 2024.
Most “sanctuaries” are more petting zoos than true sanctuaries.
The real sanctuaries have very strict rules about human/elephant interactions and do not have guests “bathing” elephants or even feeding elephants. Elephants are entirely capable of showering themselves. Forcing them to lie down and roll over to accommodate tourists showering them 3x a day is not part of their natural behavior.
Allowing them a comfortable and safe space to retire where they can be their natural selves is the goal of a real sanctuary. The rest of the places are petting zoos for the owners to enrich themselves under the guise of “altruistic elephant care”