Fatal Encounter: Spanish Man Killed by Elephants in South African Park

Trapped by an elephant herd in Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa, a Spanish visitor sadly perished. Local police said the 43-year-old man, who identified himself as Carlos Luna from Zaragoza, abandoned his car to capture close-up pictures of the breeding elephants. Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia said.

Luna was visiting the park in a private vehicle with his fiancée and two other women, according to provincial police spokesman Sabata Mokgwabone. The party came across three elephants with calves during a park trip. Ignoring advice from friends and other surrounding visitors, Luna went to photograph the animals. He ran when an adult elephant cow charged him, but he couldn’t get away. Luna was trampled to death when the whole herd launched their onslaught.

Comprising more than 7,000 species, the fourth-largest park in South Africa is the Pilanesberg Game Reserve The tourism board of the province expressed regret over the occurrence and underlined the need of honoring the distance between vehicles and animals and only alighting in approved spots. Witnesses said the female elephant probably attacked to guard her herd and young ones.

Plans call for Luna’s body to be returned. Though not often, elephant attacks do happen in South Africa. An elephant murdered a suspected poacher in 2019 in Kruger National Park; later, lions ate her. A security guard was similarly crushed by an elephant at a mine in Limpopo state. To stop such deaths, the North West tourism authority exhorted visitors to respect animals and obey safety rules.