Mother, daughter trampled to death by elephant

[Strikegundam]

A lone elephant charged out of the brush as an American family was hiking near Mount Kenya and trampled to death a mother and the one-year-old daughter she held in her arms, officials said on Wednesday.

Four adults and the baby were walking with an unarmed guide just outside Mount Kenya National Park on Monday morning when the elephant charged, said Kenya Wildlife Service official Michael Kipkeu.

More Information: Mother, daughter trampled to death by elephant

[Kowiz]

how sad

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[Bolter]

ok that is just too pitiful

[ArturiaPendragon]

That's... just too sad. God bless the both of them. The mother did a good job to the end too. >_<;

[Veloze]

The world is cruel, indeed.

[Silver Rook]

See?

This is why I don't feel sadness anymore. So much stupid, idiotic things happens in the world that life itself seems worthless.



It just seems that you can die just anytime, anywhere. From any stupid reason, as stupid as it seems.

[Shugi]

What an evil elephant. Poor people though... The guide should've had some sort of weapon at least.

[Torikakae]

Originally Posted by Shugi

What an evil elephant. Poor people though... The guide should've had some sort of weapon at least.

The elephant is not evil. They were trekking in an elephant preserve. Weapons are forbidden. The elephant was aggressive because her baby was nearby (I've read other news articles about it. They omitted that detail in this one). The mother elephant felt threatened because strangers were approaching her calf. It wasn't evil, it was a natural reaction.

I say the blame goes to the guide and the company for poor planning, lack of emergency preparations (I read that the guide was suppose to have emergency numbers but didn't bring/memorize them because they never needed them before), and lack of warnings.

[Veloze]

Originally Posted by Shugi

What an evil elephant. Poor people though... The guide should've had some sort of weapon at least.

Evil elephant? Really?

[Marzai]

Originally Posted by Shugi

What an evil elephant. Poor people though... The guide should've had some sort of weapon at least.

Yep. Because anything that threatens human life is evil, and not the other way around. Right.

@Silver Rook: Not to harp on you or anything, but that's a pretty bad reason not to feel sadness anymore. Sure, they could've made one look at the elephant and turn around completely, or have some security number handy. But the thing is, questions need to be asked first: Did they not see it coming since it 'came out of the brush', or were they fully aware of its presence? Apparently, they weren't:

"The elephant emerged from the bush at full speed without any warning," van Laar said.

And then there's this:

Because the Castle Forest Lodge lies just outside the boundary of Mount Kenya National Park, the family was walking with a hotel guide, who is not allowed to carry a gun, said Tikolo

But I guess because the hotel guide was required by law not to carry a gun doesn't mean that there weren't stupid decisions made to create such laws. I bet that law was in place to avoid the abuse of allowing guns - to not allow illegal poaching of animals in the Mount Kenya National Park. It can go into a lot more complications than that. But I won't act like I know the answers...