Zoo Deaths 2016: Kenya Elephant Kills Italian By Trampling Tourist Trying To Take A Picture

A man is dead after being trampled by an elephant Sunday at Kenya’s Tsavo National Zoo. According to authorities, 66-year-old Italian tourist Fernando Moccola was trying to take a picture of the giant animal when he was suddenly attacked the Daily Nation reported. Police told Agence France-Presse that the man was attacked nearby his tent. He had several injuries and was pronounced dead before being taken to the hospital.

Moccola’s wife, who accompanied him on the trip to the zoo in Tsavo, had reportedly warned him about getting too close to the elephant that had been spotted at a watering point not far from where they were staying in the Swara Plains Acacia Camp. Still, Moccola left breakfast with his wife and headed out to the watering site near Sabaki River, provoking the elephant as he moved in closer to get pictures, according to local law enforcement.

The couple was on vacation since August and were set to head back to Italy in October.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, elephants are responsible for at least 100 deaths per year, especially in areas of India where crop raiding is prevalent.

Three people were killed in 2011 by jumbo elephants from the Maasai Mara game reserve, including a Kenya Wildlife Service ranger, the Nairobi Star reported. A statement from Kenya Wildlife Service senior warden Kenneth ole Naisho said the ranger died after failing to fire at two elephants who had killed a woman during her walk home from a market. The elephants were also cited for destroying property worth millions at Nkulup and Ntuka trading center in Narok South District.

Back in March of this year, elephants were responsible for the deaths of five people after launching attacks on a village in India. In one of the attacks, five elephants brutally killed a man in Baghasole in the Bardhaman district while another attack killed four people in the same district just a few days later when an adult male, adult female and calf trampled a village in Nashigram.