 | Elephants, why do they trample us? |
A British tourist on honeymoon in Kenya was trampled to death by a herd of elephants as his wife looked on. Patrick Smith was killed when the animals he and his wife, Julie, were watching in the Masai Mara National Reserve were startled and stampeded. The couple, both aged 34 and from South London, had been married for one week. Along with their Masai guide, the couple had set off from the luxury RichardÂ’s Camp lodge, where they were staying, early on Sunday morning for a bush walk. "Honey, what would you like to do this morning?"
"How about we take a walk through the thorn bushes before the lions wake up and sneak up on some elephants?"
"Oh, Pat, how romantic!" |
They had gone a short distance when the tragedy happened. Remaining downwind, they approached nine elephants. But something startled the herd and the elephants charged towards them. | You do know how to stop elephants from charging, don't you? Take away their credit cards. (rimshot) Thank you, I'll be here all week. |
While Mr Smith was unable to flee the animals, his wife and their guide managed to jump out of the way. | "Air Jordans, don't fail us now!" |
It is believed that Mr Smith was trampled by a lone bull. | And is now the answer to that old schoolyard question, "What's the stuff between elephants toes?" |
Jake Grieves-Cook, chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, said that the elephants had shown no signs of aggressive behaviour before they charged. “This was truly a tragic accident and on behalf of the tourism fraternity in Kenya we wish to express our deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to the wife and family of the visitor who died,” he said.
“Elephants have poor eyesight so they probably weren’t even aware the humans were there. This was not an attack. It was all unprovoked and all we can say is that it was a very tragic accident.” | "They are good elephants, kind to their mothers, never hurt anyone." |
Mrs Smith and her husbandÂ’s body were later flown to the capital, Nairobi, by the countryÂ’s flying doctor service. Mrs Smith was expected to return to Britain yesterday. | Patrick will be mailed at a flat rate |
The British High Commission said that officials had contacted Mr SmithÂ’s family to inform them of the death.
Connie Maina, a spokeswoman for the Kenya Wildlife Service, said: “It is very unusual . . . but accidents can happen. “We will try to monitor, to see if we can get any leads. If it is a rogue elephant it may do this again, but we don’t have any information on whether it is or not.” | Kenyan FBI is searching for a lone white elephant. |
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