Dubare elephant attack exposes fatal safety risks

The horrific death of a 33-year-old tourist from Chennai at the Dubare Elephant Camp in Kodagu is not merely an accident. It is a grim reminder of what happens when commercial tourism, poor safety planning, and unpredictable wild-animal behaviour collide.

The videos from the scene – showing a distraught husband clutching his toddler in one arm while desperately trying to pull his wife from beneath a fallen elephant – are chilling.

The tragedy unfolded when two captive elephants, Kanchan and Marthanda, clashed violently during a bathing session. Marthanda reportedly lost balance and fell on the tourist, crushing her under its weight. Equally disturbing was the apparent absence of even basic emergency preparedness.

There were no robust barricades, no adequate crowd-control mechanisms, no immediate trauma-care facility, and no ambulance stationed at a site that routinely places hundreds of tourists in proximity to multi-ton animals.

What makes the lapse harder to defend is that Kanchan is known to have displayed aggressive behaviour earlier as well. The clash was so severe that Marthanda later succumbed to its injuries. Captive elephants may be trained, but they remain wild animals governed by instinct, stress, and territorial aggression.

The government’s new Standard Operating Procedures – including a 100-foot viewing distance, prohibition on touching or feeding elephants, and a ban on close selfies – are belated corrective steps that amount to an admission that the earlier system was recklessly permissive.

India need not reinvent the wheel. Sri Lanka’s Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage follows stricter protocols. Tourists are physically separated from elephants during bathing sessions, aggressive males are isolated, and a large network of handlers and emergency-response systems remains constantly deployed. Safety, not spectacle, drives the model.

But the larger ethical and ecological question cannot be ignored. What should be done with captured elephants amid rising man-animal conflict? Should they continue to be converted into tourism attractions and temple assets, where elephant attacks are frequent? Or should governments invest in long-term habitat protection and scientific conflict mitigation? Kodagu can ill-afford repeated blows to its reputation.

This is already the third major tourism-related incident in the last two months alone, after a trekker got lost in Tadiandamol and an American tourist was allegedly raped at a homestay. Tourist safety is paramount. Repeated failures will not only tarnish Kodagu’s image but also reflect poorly on Karnataka and India’s tourism governance.

The Dubare tragedy must therefore become a turning point. Wildlife tourism cannot operate on improvisation and luck. Human lives and animal welfare both demand professionalism, scientific management, and uncompromising safety standards.