Homicidal elephant keeps killing people in tourist hotspot, official says

Phlai Oyewan, a wild bull elephant, killed a tourist in Thailand’s Khao Yai National Park on Monday, marking the third fatality linked to the same elephant.

The victim was identified as Jirathachai Jiraphatboonyathorn, a 65-year-old Thai tourist, who was out walking with his wife in the national park before being trampled to death by the wild elephant, according to the Daily Mail. The elephant grabbed Jiraphatboonyathorn with its trunk, slammed the victim on the ground, and then proceeded to trample him, the outlet reported.

Khao Yai National Park Chief Chaiya Huayhongthong stated that several unsolved deaths could possibly be linked to the same male elephant, according to CBS News. Huayahongthong said park authorities will be meeting on Friday to discuss what to do about the homicidal elephant.

“We will probably decide to relocate him or change his behavior,” Huayahongthong said, according to the outlet.

Khao Yai National Park did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Since 2012, over 220 people, including tourists, have been killed by wild elephants, according to the Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, CBS News reported.

Thai police charged a trainer in January after an elephant in his care killed a Spanish tourist, according to the BBC. Blanca Ojanguren García, the 22-year-old Spanish tourist, died from a head injury in the hospital after being shoved by the elephant while she was bathing the animal, the outlet reported.

The wild elephant population has increased from 334 in 2015 to almost 800 last year, which has led Thai authorities to administer contraceptive vaccines to female elephants in order to control their population growth, according to CBS News.

Thailand is not the only country that is reporting strings of deadly elephant attacks. In January, Indian officials were hunting a single tusked elephant that had been tearing through villages in Jharkhand state and killed 22 people since Jan. 1.

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