The zoo worker in Spain has died after being hit by an elephant’s trunk and banging his head against the bars of a fence, the zoo and local officials said.
The female elephant, which weighs about 4,000 kg, struck the 44-year-old with her trunk in the Cabarceno nature park near the city of Santander on Wednesday morning, the zoo said. The man was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries about three hours later.
At that time, the staff was cleaning the elephant stables as part of their daily duties, and the elephant was with her calf in the compound.
“We are talking about unpredictable animals,” said Javier Lopez Marcano, the Cantabria regional government’s tourism minister who owns the zoo.
“The force of the strike was enormous, of such a magnitude that one could not survive.”
Police and the zoo said they were investigating. This is the first incident in the park’s 31-year history.
Cabarceno Nature Park is home to nearly 120 species of animals, including wolves, tigers, lions and jaguars that live in large fences where one or more species coexist.
Last year, a 200-kilogram gorilla was killed in the Madrid Zoo Aquarium by a 46-km-long gorilla, leaving her with two broken arms and chest and head injuries.