I'm not a fan of gratuitous violence or morbidity...unless it provides an important lesson. And that lesson is DO NOT FUCK WITH THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, BECAUSE IT IS BADASS!
Sharon Brown was hiking with family and her 1-year-old daughter in a Kenyan nature reserve when suddenly their unarmed guide froze in his tracks. Around a corner was an elephant. you can guess what happened next...
The guide shouted to turn back, but it was too late. The elephant — which was protecting a calf nearby — gored the young American mother, tossed her in the air and dragged her body into the forest. The baby, who was flung out of her carrier, also died.
"We watched helplessly," Brown's brother-in-law, Rick LeVert, said of the tragic end to what was supposed to have been a scenic nature walk in the forest surrounding the lodge where the family was staying near Mount Kenya National Park.
The 38-year-old and her husband Jeff had decided to take the guided hike with their baby, Margaux, after being told by the owner of the Castle Forest Lodge that it was safe for such a young child. Though nobody knows who told them it was a good idea to go to a wold animal park in Africa with a newborn. "We were told several times that the walk was suitable for a mother with a baby. At no time did someone say there was a risk of an elephant charging," LeVert said. Melia van Laar of the Castle Forest Lodge said that the hike is suitable for a mother and young child, and that "we always do" warn guests about dangers. She said a written warning was posted on an information board.
"At that point [at a blind corner] he turned and yelled 'Go back!'" LeVert said. "Sharon, who was next to me, turned and slipped on wet ground and a branch. I helped her up, and ... 15 to 20 meters (yards) up the trail was the elephant. We turned and we began to run. It was clear to everyone if we stayed on the path we had no chance. I yelled to Sharon to come with me. I went to the left side, she went to the right side." I believe that was the wrong side.
LeVert said the family blamed the lodge staff for not warning them about potential dangers and for failing to provide adequate emergency help after the tragedy. "We're not stupid. We know we were in the wild and anything could happen. But the guide did not hesitate and said the walk was suitable. The owner did not hesitate and said the walk was suitable," he said. But you just said that you knew anything could happen...so it did. Brown and her husband worked at the International School of Kenya, where both were teachers and she was the librarian. Previously, she had served in the Peace Corps in Bangladesh and Uganda. Which means in all their travels and time in shitholes around the world, they had to be aware of the risks.
Because Castle Forest lies just outside the boundary of Mt. Kenya National Park, the family was with a hotel guide who was not allowed to carry a gun - only park rangers can carry guns. At the lodge, LeVert said the owner did not have any emergency contact numbers for medical authorities or the Kenya Wildlife Service. Van Laar said her lodge does have emergency contacts but they weren't programmed into her phone because she never had to call them. Oops.
Deaths caused by animals are common enough in Kenya that the government has a set rate to pay families in the case of such killings — about $2,600, a large sum for rural Kenyans. The government pays $660 for injuries caused by animals. The attack recalled an elephant attack on tourist Wendy Smith in 2000 while she was jogging inside the Il Ngwesi ranch, 60 miles north of the lodge. Smith, who survived with a crushed pelvis, had also been accompanied an unarmed guide. She was awarded $1 million in compensation by a Kenyan court in a case that forced organizations dealing with wildlife tourism to review security measures.
Sharon Brown was hiking with family and her 1-year-old daughter in a Kenyan nature reserve when suddenly their unarmed guide froze in his tracks. Around a corner was an elephant. you can guess what happened next...The guide shouted to turn back, but it was too late. The elephant — which was protecting a calf nearby — gored the young American mother, tossed her in the air and dragged her body into the forest. The baby, who was flung out of her carrier, also died.
"We watched helplessly," Brown's brother-in-law, Rick LeVert, said of the tragic end to what was supposed to have been a scenic nature walk in the forest surrounding the lodge where the family was staying near Mount Kenya National Park.
The 38-year-old and her husband Jeff had decided to take the guided hike with their baby, Margaux, after being told by the owner of the Castle Forest Lodge that it was safe for such a young child. Though nobody knows who told them it was a good idea to go to a wold animal park in Africa with a newborn. "We were told several times that the walk was suitable for a mother with a baby. At no time did someone say there was a risk of an elephant charging," LeVert said. Melia van Laar of the Castle Forest Lodge said that the hike is suitable for a mother and young child, and that "we always do" warn guests about dangers. She said a written warning was posted on an information board.
"At that point [at a blind corner] he turned and yelled 'Go back!'" LeVert said. "Sharon, who was next to me, turned and slipped on wet ground and a branch. I helped her up, and ... 15 to 20 meters (yards) up the trail was the elephant. We turned and we began to run. It was clear to everyone if we stayed on the path we had no chance. I yelled to Sharon to come with me. I went to the left side, she went to the right side." I believe that was the wrong side.
LeVert said the family blamed the lodge staff for not warning them about potential dangers and for failing to provide adequate emergency help after the tragedy. "We're not stupid. We know we were in the wild and anything could happen. But the guide did not hesitate and said the walk was suitable. The owner did not hesitate and said the walk was suitable," he said. But you just said that you knew anything could happen...so it did. Brown and her husband worked at the International School of Kenya, where both were teachers and she was the librarian. Previously, she had served in the Peace Corps in Bangladesh and Uganda. Which means in all their travels and time in shitholes around the world, they had to be aware of the risks.
Because Castle Forest lies just outside the boundary of Mt. Kenya National Park, the family was with a hotel guide who was not allowed to carry a gun - only park rangers can carry guns. At the lodge, LeVert said the owner did not have any emergency contact numbers for medical authorities or the Kenya Wildlife Service. Van Laar said her lodge does have emergency contacts but they weren't programmed into her phone because she never had to call them. Oops.
Deaths caused by animals are common enough in Kenya that the government has a set rate to pay families in the case of such killings — about $2,600, a large sum for rural Kenyans. The government pays $660 for injuries caused by animals. The attack recalled an elephant attack on tourist Wendy Smith in 2000 while she was jogging inside the Il Ngwesi ranch, 60 miles north of the lodge. Smith, who survived with a crushed pelvis, had also been accompanied an unarmed guide. She was awarded $1 million in compensation by a Kenyan court in a case that forced organizations dealing with wildlife tourism to review security measures.
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