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Related: About this forumElephant collapses and dies after carrying tourists in Cambodia's Angkor Wat
Elephant collapses and dies after carrying tourists in Cambodia's Angkor Wat
Published32 min ago
An elderly female elephant trained to carry tourists at Angkor Wat collapsed and died last Friday (April 22).
The Phnom Penh Post reported that the elephant, whose age was estimated at around 40-45 years, drew its last breath near Bakheng Mountain, shortly after ferrying two tourists to one of the archeological park's temples.
It had been walking for about 40 minutes, said a spokesman from the Angkor Elephant company, who added that they were saddened by the loss.
The elephant had been working for the company since 2001.
"After our veterinarian checked...we concluded that she died of heart attack due to high temperatures and lack of wind," the spokesman told the paper.
The temperature in Siem Reap reportedly hit a scorching 40 deg C on Friday.
Photos posted on Facebook by user Yem Senok, which showed the elephant lying on its side by the road, were shared over 8,000 times and sparked an outcry on social media.
More:
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/elephant-collapses-and-dies-after-carrying-tourists-in-cambodias-angkor-wat
(Petition available at this link.)
rpannier
(24,330 posts)And Very, Very, Very sad
shenmue
(38,506 posts)bjo59
(1,166 posts)When I visited Angkor Wat in 2011, I walked up close to one of those elephants forced to carry tourists around and it looked mad in the eyes. Somebody I met said he thought those elephants were fed cocaine to keep them stumbling along all day. I didn't want to believe it but the look in those elephants' eyes was heart wrenching. I can't believe that tourists see that and still scramble up on those poor beasts of burden.
ReRe
(10,597 posts)Poor baby, I don't care if she is 40-45 yrs old. What's even more pitiful is that they didn't even include her name in the article.
Rhiannon12866
(205,635 posts)Duppers
(28,125 posts)I hope they get 500K signatures and that the petition carries some clout.
People can be cruel and absolutely heartless.
https://www.change.org/p/apsara-authority-end-elephant-riding-at-angkor-siem-reap