Elephant Kills Tour Guide in Victoria Falls

An elephant handler has been trampled to death in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

The 50-year-old handler was looking after several trained elephants on Saturday when one of them turned on him, and charged. Enock Kufandada, who worked for tour operator Adventure Zone, was pronounced dead at the scene.

While no-one witnessed the attack, those in the vicinity heard Kufandada’s screams and the trumpeting of the elephant, according to Brent Williamson, owner of Adventure Zone. An unnamed employee says that he rushed to check on Kufandada, but that the handler was already dead.

Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers have since shot and killed the elephant.

The bull elephant, called Mbanje, was used for elephant rides, a major tourist attraction in Zimbabwe.

Kufandada had been employed as a guide since July 2005 and was described by Williamson as “an extremely competent staff member”.

The victim’s son said that his father’s death comes as a great shock: “We don’t even know what we are going to do. I am at school and he was the only breadwinner.”

Kufandada is survived by a wife and two children.

Tour operators in the resort town have described the incident as a “freak accident”, and a one-in-a-million occurrence, because domesticated elephants are not known to kill people.

An investigation into the possible cause of the elephant attack is underway.

This is not the first time this year that interactions with elephants have proved fatal. In June of this year, a man died after an elephant fell on his car, and in May, a hunter was crushed by a falling elephant during a hunt.