Tourist killed in elephant fight at India’s Dubare safari camp VIDEO

A tourist was killed during an elephant bathing activity at the popular Dubare safari camp in India after two elephants began fighting in the river during a visitor event.

The 33-year-old woman became trapped between the animals as the situation escalated, according to foreign media reports.

According to local authorities, one elephant struck the other with its tusk, causing it to lose balance and fall onto the tourist. She sustained severe head injuries and was later pronounced dead in the hospital. It was subsequently reported that one of the elephants also died from its injuries.

Karnataka Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar B Khandre expressed grief over the incident and ordered immediate action to strengthen safety protocols at wildlife and elephant camps across the state.

In an official note issued on May 18, Khandre described the incident as “very sad” and announced that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) would be specifically developed to improve safety for visitors to elephant camps. He added that eco-tourism trail operations should be temporarily suspended until previously established SOPs for trekking and wildlife tourism are fully enforced.

The minister also introduced a series of stricter safety measures. He directed officials to ensure that tourists maintain a minimum distance of 100 feet from elephants during bathing sessions and prohibited visitors from approaching the animals for selfies, photographs, or participation in bathing activities. Tourists are also barred from touching elephant trunks or feeding them items such as bananas, jaggery, and sugarcane.

Khandre said the new restrictions would take effect immediately, stressing that although captive elephants are trained, their behaviour can remain unpredictable, especially in stressful situations or when conflicts occur between animals.

He further instructed forest authorities to implement tighter crowd control measures and enhance safety monitoring in wildlife camps and tourist interaction zones to prevent similar incidents in the future.

By Tamilla Hasanova