Tourist Killed by Elephant in Livingstone

[BRICKBURN]

Inaccurate reporting is an obvious concern and the folks in Livingstone are interested in getting the real story out.

Compare to the BBC reporting of the incident. Other "news" services just repeated and elaborate on the error.


A US tourist from New Mexico was killed by an elephant, after it attacked her vehicle while parked during a safari drive in Zambia on Wednesday.
The animal pulled Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, out of the vehicle and trampled her, officials said.
Ms Tourneau was with a group that had stopped near the Maramba Cultural Bridge in Livingstone due to traffic from an elephant herd when one of the animals attacked, a police official told the Zambian national broadcaster ZNBC.
This marks the second fatal elephant attack on a US tourist in the southern African country this year.
Gail Mattson, a 79-year-old woman from Minnesota, was killed during a game drive in Zambia's Kafue National Park.
During the March incident, an elephant charged the truck, flipped it over, killed Ms Mattson and injured five others.
Rona Wells, Ms Mattson's daughter, wrote on Facebook that her mother died in a "tragic accident while on her dream adventure".
Video of the attack later went viral and showed an elephant charging towards the vehicle. None of the vehicle passengers are seen in the video, but someone can be heard saying "oh my goodness," and "it's coming fast".
The vehicle stops to presumably attempt to stave off the elephant, but the animal hooks its tusk onto the vehicle and it rolls several times.
Zambian authorities have called on tourists to exercise extreme caution while observing wildlife around the country.
Zambia's neighbours Zimbabwe and Botswana have also raised concern about increasing elephant populations in their respective countries.
Zimbabwe has recorded deadly elephant attacks in recent years.

 

[VertigoBE]

I wonder what the reason was for the initial incorrect reporting? Insurance claims?

 

[Sideshow]

A real shame people think they can get out to
give them a pat and a cuddle. This seems to happen quite often. Just look at Yellow Stone YouTube clips.

Don’t quite get why the report was so off?

It’s not the first time that elephants have had an incident on that bit of road. Back in 2001 I saw a Toyota corolla taxi that ran into the back of one at night. Which then sat down. Same as if someone came up a kicked you in the back of the legs. Local passengers all bailed. Luckily no one hurt. But man it sure peeed off the rest of the herd, rapped that car around a tree like something out of Jumanji.

 

[Brent in Az]

It's unfortunate that we can no longer trust the media for accuracy in reporting.
You can see this type of tourist behavior in Yellowstone park on any given day.
They park the vehicle, and approach the animals. When you step across that invisible line of the animals comfort zone, bad things can happen in a hurry.

 

[Sideshow]

Well that bbc report has not changed. At the bottom they have two more reports one on elephant twins and another elephants in India which might be saved by AI from going on rail tracks…..Ohoo the spin

 

[cajunchefray]

"When you step across that invisible line of the animals comfort zone, bad things can happen in a hurry."

Most media outlets cannot tell the public this truth. It's a damn shame.

 

[Sideshow]

It’s just plain bad journalism. They have taken one source and not backed it up with verification. Nor has the editor done his leg work on this.
Stuff it I’m going to complain. I’ll post the link for bbc complaining here.

 

[PerH]

When one see which kind of nature people like Packham the bbc surrounds itself with , the risk of ever telling the truth lowers by hundredfolds by each passing day .

 

[Sideshow]

Well give it there due there not the only ones that have miss reported this.

Zambia Safari Terror: New Mexico Woman Trampled To Death By Elephant

In a tragic incident, 64-year-old Juliana Gle Tourneau from New Mexico was thrown out of her safari vehicle by an elephant and trampled to death near the Maramba Cultural Bridge in Livingstone. Reports indicate she was pronounced dead at a clinic in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. Police stated she...

thedailyguardian.com

This one covers both.

US Woman Dead After Elephant Attack In Zambia—Here’s What We Know

Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, from New Mexico died after an elephant she was looking at reportedly broke from its herd and trampled her.

www.forbes.com

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Lots of people were involved. Curious to hear what stories they have to tell. And what stories do the vehicles have to tell. If the elephant attacked the vehicle, someone would have photographed the damage. The earlier fatal encounter did involve a vehicle being struck and photos of the damaged bus were immediately floating on the internet. Not this time. Hmmm.

 

[Sideshow]

A Tourist From New Mexico Is Killed by an Elephant in Zambia

The incident came months after another tourist was killed in Zambia when an elephant charged her group. One wildlife expert said the attacks were most likely “freak accidents.”

www.nytimes.com

 

[BushPig1963]

Just a thought but if the media approach the police for information and are given the below reply by the Southern Province Police Commissioner as reported by Sideshow should they ignore it?

At that stage clearly an official statement had not gone out so I guess perhaps the media thought they could take a person of such a high standing giving an explanation to the media as perhaps fact?

The quote is below.....all stories update surely as more information becomes available and if someone of such standing below briefs the media and is named is it not fair for the media to accept it?

The quote below?

Southern Province Police Commissioner Auxensio Daka told Zambian station ZNBC that the incident occurred around 5:50 pm “after being knocked from a parked vehicle which had stopped due to traffic caused by elephants around the Maramba Cultural Bridge.”

Should not the anger be directed at the police commissioner rather than the media for reporting his statement to the media. Love just tossing a grenade in and seeing the debris that follows lol....

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Just a thought but if the media approach the police for information and are given the below reply by the Southern Province Police Commissioner as reported by Sideshow should they ignore it?

At that stage clearly an official statement had not gone out so I guess perhaps the media thought they could take a person of such a high standing giving an explanation to the media as perhaps fact?

The quote is below.....all stories update surely as more information becomes available and if someone of such standing below briefs the media and is named is it not fair for the media to accept it?

The quote below?

Southern Province Police Commissioner Auxensio Daka told Zambian station ZNBC that the incident occurred around 5:50 pm “after being knocked from a parked vehicle which had stopped due to traffic caused by elephants around the Maramba Cultural Bridge.”

Should not the anger be directed at the police commissioner rather than the media for reporting his statement to the media. Love just tossing a grenade in and seeing the debris that follows lol....

You mean a local African police official should be expected to always get the story right after a proper investigation? I think you're forgetting the geographical and political and cultural context.

Boom! This should get messy.

Edit: The NY Times gives an entirely different quote from the police official. Hopefully the media will get to the bottom of misinformation sources and out them. That would be a first.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

"When you step across that invisible line of the animals comfort zone, bad things can happen in a hurry."

Most media outlets cannot tell the public this truth. It's a damn shame.

That comfort zone line gets much smaller when a cow with calf are involved.

Like people sometime “we get up on the wrong side of the bed or in the ele case wrong side of the Baobab” Elephant are dangerous unpredictable wild game.

Dr. Norman Monk old time Zim parks told me this story.
At the time he was Warden of Mana pools Every day he would walk from the administrative office to home fir lunch. Every day he would walk past a old dagga boy. One day he said he saw a different look in the buffs eyes, sure enough it got him. I do not remember how he got out of the pickle.

That buff’s comfort zone was pretty big

Lon

 

[Hunt anything]

Today’s journalism motto seems to be “get the story out first and the facts later”

 

[BushPig1963]

You mean a local African police official should be expected to always get the story right after a proper investigation? I think you're forgetting the geographical and political and cultural context.

Boom! This should get messy.

Edit: The NY Times gives an entirely different quote from the police official. Hopefully the media will get to the bottom of misinformation sources and out them. That would be a first.

I think you will find the official investigation came later Ontario Hunter and the police chief was commenting on information he had at hand at the time of the incident before the official investigation....

 

[Sideshow]

I think the reason that there is no more information on this is that it was a family. I spent some time with the Police in Livingstone I found them to be nice guys. Trying there utmost to be helpful. (Unlike the corrupt buggers up at Kapiri Mopshi). But everything needs to be crossed and dotted.

Most of what I’ve read in the press is conjecture talking with NPO’s spokesperson who usually has very limited experience on the ground.


Also they (editors) are unfortunately looking for the headline that grabs the reader….who these span of attention these days is short!
So you end up with this mess.

Not like 60 minutes back in the 70/80’s or even the reports from Fleet Street in the 90’s. Where the paper went out the next day.
Now days it’s a digital age you have to get the story out before someone else does. So it leads to this.

 

[BushPig1963]

It’s just plain bad journalism. They have taken one source and not backed it up with verification. Nor has the editor done his leg work on this.
Stuff it I’m going to complain. I’ll post the link for bbc complaining he

I think the reason that there is no more information on this is that it was a family. I spent some time with the Police in Livingstone I found them to be nice guys. Trying there utmost to be helpful. (Unlike the corrupt buggers up at Kapiri Mopshi). But everything needs to be crossed and dotted.

Most of what I’ve read in the press is conjecture talking with NPO’s spokesperson who hasn’t any experience on the ground.

Also they (editors) are unfortunately looking for the headline that grabs the reader….who these span of attention these days is short!
So you end up with this mess.

Not like 60 minutes back in the 70/80’s or even the reports from Fleet Street in the 90’s. Where the paper went out the next day.
Now days it’s a digital age you have to get the story out before someone else does. So it leads to this.

I cannot fault your argument on that. But once that police chief gave that quote I guess the editors have their headline. I agree that it is all about being first in a digital age and if a mistake is made it is very easy to delete it from the internet and claim ignorance whereas back in the day if it was printed in a paper you could not just delete it. But if a police chief goes on record like that how could an editor justify not running it just in case the police chief was wrong? Nothing would get published if they went down that route I guess when you start not to believe a police chief at a press conference giving an official account of what happened - whether it is right or wrong. The reporter is not to know it is different and is writing a story based on information given to them surely? Perhaps it is not always the messenger at fault?

 

[Sideshow]

Sure @BushPig1963 not arguing the quote from the police commissioner. As he has been quoted across several news channels. I’m talking about the no correction.
The commissioners are always trying for a better political position so you won’t see him retracting his statement. If he does he will push the blame down hill and whoever gave him the bad information…if anybody will be on a road block on the grate north road faster than they can dry there cassava

At the end of the day if you know anyone about to go on a big game viewing trip or even a holiday to Africa or some other wild place tell them mind the wild life……the hint is in the name!!! It’s wild for a reason.

I’ll end this on a short story of a passenger of mine. We were on a three week trip Kenya Uganda Tanzania ending in Zanzibar. So the first game drive was Queen Elizabeth Nat park. Nothing close. Next was the West East road right through the Serengeti Nat park.
Anyway we pulled up about 100meters away from this small herd of Ell and had been sitting there for all of 2/3m when in the mirror I see the ladder come down. I ask the pax “What are you doing”?? His reply just floored me! “Ohoo I’m going to get a closer shot”
“No your bloody not get that ladder up”!! I dropped the clutch and moved off 500 odd metres then stopped and had a rather frank discussion on what will kill you in Africa.
He did come up after and apologised saying something like he had no idea that they were that dangerous. He wasn’t stupid just naive to the danger. There after when we did pre-departure I added a lot more info on wildlife do’s and don’ts.

 

[Daisy]

People need to realize that the statement from the tourist company was biased to their perspective also. It was cya. My guess is the answer lies in the middle somewhere.