Remember wild animals are wild, even if they are in refuges

Nothing is more likely to make a tourist behave stupidly than an interaction with a wild animal.

Over the holidays I watched a video of a family of imbeciles feeding a wild moose, who promptly head-butted a young child.

And earlier this week a "stressed" elephant killed a Spanish tourist during a "bathing session" at a Thailand elephant sanctuary, news portal Travel Mole reported.

The 23-year-old woman was hit by the "panic stricken" animal’s trunk, police said.

It happened at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre in Phang Nga province.

“A female tourist was killed while bathing an elephant,” police chief Jaran Bangprasert said.

Spanish media identified the woman as Blanca Ojanguren García.

She was in a group of about eight tourists at the sanctuary when it happened.

Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said his country's consulate in Bangkok was assisting a Spanish family.

The elephant sanctuary offers various ‘elephant care’ packages which include bathing, walking and preparing food and feeding the elephants.

Deaths by wild elephants are relatively common but rare in elephant refuges and sanctuaries.

Hotel group does its bit for nature

It is always pleasing to hear a good news story from the travel industry. 

This time it is Thai-based hospitality group Anantara that has some feed good tidings as we approach Christmas. 

Wildlife rangers in Cambodia have confirmed the return of wild elephants and endangered otters to a concession of forest that Anantara funds via The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF), Anantara’s charitable organisation.

The sightings of these rare species were confirmed by Khmer rangers supported by Wildlife Alliance and from funds raised by Anantara guests that are distributed through the GTAEF to a number of charitable projects around the world. 

"From the size of the dung and the number of footprints, it seems that this is a herd of nine elephants comprising four adult females, their calves and one juvenile,” said John Roberts, director of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF) and Group Director of Sustainability and Conservation for Anantara. 

The hotel group has been fully funding the ranger effort since the pandemic shut down tourism across the globe. 

The Cardamom Tented Camp, in southern Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountain range, is a non-profit eco lodge resting within 18,000 hectares of pristine land that opened in late 2017. 

Proceeds from the camp are used to fund rangers that patrol the concession, protecting against deforestation and illegal poaching. 

The camp uses the slogan, “Your Stay Keeps the Forest Standing” and otters (above) have recently been spotted nearby. 

For more info see anantara.com