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An elephant tore its owner in half with its tusks last week in southern Thailand after being forced to carry wood in hot weather, according to a report.
The body of 32-year-old Supachai Wongfaed was found in a pool of blood after police responded to a rubber plantation in Phang Nga province, Thailand news agency Thaiger reported.
Police said a male 20-year-old elephant named Pom Pam stabbed the man multiple times with his tusks, tearing his body in half.
A preliminary investigation found that Supachai brought the elephant to the plantation to transport timber that morning, the outlet reported, citing police.
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A male Asian elephant, like the one pictured above, reportedly attacked his handler in southern Thailand. (Diptendu Dutta/AFP via Getty Images, file)
Police said the hot weather may have “driven the animal mad” and attacked the man.
According to the report, ranchers had to stun the elephant with an arrow from more than 500 meters away in order for Supachai’s body to be recovered.
Another incident occurred in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province last month. Police suspect the elephant in this case, stressed from work, stabbed its keeper and stood over its body for hours, the outlet reported.
Duncan McNair, CEO of the charity Save The Asian Elephants, told Newsweek that Asian elephants suffer mentally and physically when they are broken and forced to work in extreme activities like logging.
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“[It] is another stark reminder that Asian elephants are and always will be wild animals that can attack and kill when abused or overly stressed by humans,” McNair said.
Although the practice of using Asian elephants to carry logs was banned in Thailand in 1989, it still occurs in some parts of the country, according to the outlet.