Elephant tramples keeper to death at Shizuoka safari park

Terribly sad story all round. RIP

Sort of sad being that he was an elephant specialist. The animal must've felt betrayed.

That's like having a two ton truck just fall on your chest. There's very little anyone can do. I hope this keepers family finds peace. So what's happening to the mother elephant? Is she going to be put down? Or will she be shipped back to her country of origin? In these cases, animals are stressed out. I've said it before and I'll say it again, these wild animals belong in the wild not in a zoo or cage. Poor animal....

The 30-year-old was an elephant specialist who had been working with the creatures for around 15 years. He had come to Japan from Laos with the mother elephant in July last year,

My deepest Respect and Condolences to you, Mr. Inthavong Khamphone, while trying to stop the gigantic animal from attacking its new-born calf.

Get in the way of Mother Nature and you'll get stepped on.

RIP

S

I love elephants but geez! What did the poor baby elephant do to have it's own mother try and kill it and then kill the poor guy from Laos?? So sad, so terrible, yes RIP Laos

Probably kept in a concrete prison, pacing around out of its mind. Zoos in Japan are awful.

It was at a safari park where they are kept in the open not in a small cage.

Maybe elephant law at work? "This is no place for a child to grow up..."

@bilderberg

Um, other trainers and zookeepers get killed by elephants, tigers etc overseas too. Care to elaborate on your theory for their deaths? Perhaps the animals smelled the sushi they had for lunch or something?

This death was in a safari park by the way. Please read the article properly before making assumptions.

Let the animals be free and not in cages.... the reason she attacked the baby is because she knew no better and had not been trained by other elephants

i give him courage for trying, but why did he think he was going to be able to stop a two ton elephant from attacking it's baby? i'm sorry, but your life is more valuabe than an animal's life.

Don't believe it's wise to interfere with a wild female animal after it has given birth. The new mothers sometimes tend to be rather nervous as to what's happening around them. If this guy was an elephant expert, surely he must have known that he was entering dangerous territory.

Ever see an elephant get red eyes (on film of course)? It's said that if their eyes turn red they are very, very dangerous. Should have checked them out first ... ???

Wonder what happened to the baby elephant?

I havent been to this safari park but I have ended up in a couple that were painful to witness, the conditions in some parts were so bad words just cudnt describe it

Never try to stop an elephant from attacking its new-born.

Five keepers entered the enclosure to try to separate the mother from her child apparently, but only one was trampled.

Postpartum depression??? They could've used tranquil gun if they knew the elephant is going nuts.

need more training to handle an elephant who is in a cage and giving birth.

the mother started attacking the baby

Now animals in Japan too...?

RIP brave man!

Do you know how they capture wild elephants ? How they capture them and put them in zoos ???

Elephants receive alot of ABUSE from humans.

@ Realistic...i had the same thought!

While I applaud the keepers(RIP) bravery for trying to save the baby elephant, one can work with animals for a lifetime and still not understand them.

The elephant must have been going through a lot of stress, perhaps even lived alone, and certainly gave birth under monitored conditions, likely in small confinement.

Elephants are intelligent animals, and unfortunately people still believe that they can live a normal life in captivity.

Spare a little thought and now that these are living creatures that shouldn't be used as means of entertainment for troupes of noisy school kids shouting "kawaii" and pointing flashing cameras at them day after day.

If the baby elephant survived, it will be traumatised for life.

@gogogo:

"Let the animals be free and not in cages.... the reason she attacked the baby is because she knew no better and had not been trained by other elephants"

A lot of you voting down gogogo know nothing.

Where do animals learn how to raise their young? They don't read books.

Elephants are social beings who need interaction.

The mother elephant was possibly an orphan herself, subject to trauma, such as being moved to another country, seperated from her group where she established a bond, forced to give birth, put in an enclosure to give birth.

Have some empathy, people.

Does anybody know if the animals are injured animals that cannot survive in the wild or if they are plucked from the wild and placed there for economic purposes? It makes a big difference on how I feel about this.

If this is the same disgraceful safari park that is located near the base of Fuji, then all l can say is no wonder. The animals at that park are kept in atrocious conditions. Even worse than the typical disgraceful Japanese zoo.