Elephants trample tourist to death after he left his fiancée in car to take photos in South Africa

A Spanish tourist was trampled to death by elephants in a South African game reserve after he left his vehicle and approached a herd to take photographs, police and local authorities said on Tuesday, marking at least the third such death on the continent in less than four months.

The 43-year-old man was killed on Sunday in Pilanesberg National Park in the North West province, about 177 kilometers from Johannesburg, police said.

The North West Province Parks and Tourism Department, which manages Pilanesberg, said an adult female elephant attacked the man.

“Unfortunately, he was not able to escape or avoid the elephant. The entire herd had now joined the elephant. He was caught and trampled to death,” it said.

“The elephants immediately moved away from the scene of the accident without attacking the vehicles nearby and eventually disappeared into the bushes.”

The elephant herd also included young calves. Wildlife experts often warn that elephants are particularly protective of their young and can react aggressively to a perceived threat.

Police said the man’s fiancée and two other women, all from Johannesburg, were also in the vehicle and were unharmed.

Piet Nel, deputy conservation officer for the North West Parks and Tourism Board, said Pilanesberg guests had been told they were not allowed to leave their vehicles while driving through the park and that they would have to sign a form indicating they understood the rules.

“Some people are not aware of the dangers in the parks,” said Nel. “We have to remember that we are in a wilderness.”

Elephant attacks are not uncommon in the region. In 2021 suspected poacher was killed of elephants in the world-famous Kruger National Park in South Africa.

This year, elephants in Zambia killed two American tourists in separate attacks. In June Juliana Glé Tourneau64, of New Mexico, was killed when an elephant belonging to a herd that the tourists were watching attacked their vehicle. In April, Gail Mattson, a 79-year-old Minnesotan, was killed in an elephant attack, an incident that occurred in shocking cell phone video.

AFP contributed to this report.