E-Paper
Tourist shoves beer into elephant’s trunk in Kenya sanctuary, internet reels in horror
A now-deleted video shows a Spanish tourist pouring beer down an elephant’s trunk. He was also seen feeding carrots to rhinos.
Prefer HTon Google
Investigations have been launched against a Spanish tourist accused of pouring beer down an elephant's trunk in Kenya. The man posted the video on his Instagram profile but deleted it after facing massive backlash.
In a video, the man, who goes by @skydive_kenya, is seen drinking from a beer can. He then pours the rest down the trunk of the bull elephant named Bupa. He captioned the video, "Just a tusker with a tusked friend,” referencing the brand of the beer Tusker, which is popular in the country.
Also Read: Dog beaten, forced off 17th floor in Mumbai. Disturbing video sparks outrage
Ol Jogi Conservancy in central Kenya’s Laikipia County, where the incident occurred, issued a statement. Though the incident occurred last year, it came to light after the now-deleted video was posted on Instagram.
Following this, the wildlife sanctuary shared a statement dated July 29 on Facebook on August 29. “Ol Jogi Wildlife Conservancy is aware of a video resurfacing showing an individual feeding beer to one of our habituated elephants. Bupa, the elephant shown in the video, has lived at Ol Jogi for many years,” the statement said.
The wildlife sanctuary said that Bupa is closely cared for by the team and the tourists' behaviour is “unacceptable, dangerous, and completely against the establishment's values.”
“The incident occurred last year and was dealt with internally at the time. We take matters like this extremely seriously and remain committed to ensuring the wellbeing and dignity of the animals in our care,” it continued.
Also Read: Elephant senses caretaker’s discomfort in rain, offers gentle comfort with trunk: ‘Best guardian’
"This should never have happened. We're a conservation and we can't allow that to happen," a staffer at Ol Jogi Conservancy told the BBC. "We don't even allow people to go near the elephants."
Feeding carrots to rhinos:
In another video, the yet-to-be identified tourist was seen feeding carrots to rhinos at nearby Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Dylan Habil from the sanctuary told the BBC, "He has also broken our rules because he was not supposed to touch the rhinos because they are not pets.”
