Two female tourists from the United Kingdom (UK) and New Zealand have been killed by an elephant while on a walking safari in a national park in Zambia, police in the southern African country have said.
The Eastern Province police commissioner, Robertson Mweemba, says the victims, whom he named as Easton Taylor (68) from the UK and Alison Taylor (67) from New Zealand, were attacked early this month by a female elephant that was with a calf.
Safari guides who were with the group attempted to stop the elephant from charging at the women by firing warning shots at it, police say.
The elephant was hit and wounded by the gunshots.
The guides were unable to prevent the elephant’s attack and both women died at the scene, police say.
It happened at the South Luangwa national park in eastern Zambia, about 600km from the capital, Lusaka.
Female elephants are very protective of their calves and can respond aggressively to what they perceive as threats.
Last year, two American tourists were killed in separate encounters with elephants in different parts of Zambia.
In both cases, the tourists were also women and were on a safari vehicle when they were attacked. – The Guardian
