Elephant tramples tourist to death in front of his son

Harare: A 71-year-old tourist from South Africa has been trampled to death by an elephant while visiting Zimbabwe’s Mana Pool National Park.

According to details, the tuskless female elephant charged the tourist and his 41-year-old son as they took a morning walk in the park.

The father and son duo had left their car about 40 meters (44 yards) from the scene of the incident.   

“Because of age, unfortunately, the old man couldn’t escape to the vehicle. His son watched as the elephant killed his father,” said official.

As per spokesman for Zimbabwe’s national parks, the tourist was trampled to death by elephant “in full view” of his son.

Mana Pools is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its splendid setting along the Zambezi River—surrounding flood plain teeming with elephants and other wildlife.  

As per a national survey research, Zimbabwe has an estimated 85,000 elephants and neighboring Botswana has more than 130,000. 

The tourist was reportedly a veterinarian from Cape Town and had been visiting Mana Pools almost every year for the past 35 years.