In some cases, tourists are allowed to bath the elephants in a river, and while that sounds like it might be fun, one woman discovered the downside of doing so:
The video was posted Friday on LiveLeak, and though it's hard to say how recent the incident occurred, it nevertheless offers a reminder that elephants are still wild animals, even captive ones.
In this instance, the woman unfortunately did something that the elephant did not like.
As she wiped down the top of the elephant's trunk with a sponge, the elephant suddenly swept its head forward and with its tusks, bound together at the tips, tossed the woman into the air, sending her and her sunglasses and headband flying.
She landed in the water where she quickly stood up to gather herself. Evidently she was OK, but we suspect she was more than a little shook up.
LiveLeak posted a quote with the video that we assume comes from the woman in the video, which would confirm our suspicions:
"I went to Thailand with a group of friends after planning the trip for about 8 months. Elephants were my favorite animal. Elephant things are all over my desk at work. I have elephant clothes and elephant kitchen tools. So, going to the elephant sanctuary was supposed to be the highlight of my trip. I was also planning on getting an elephant bamboo tattoo while I was in Thailand, which I definitely didn't do after this experience. I went from loving elephants to now being terrified of them."
Awe muffin... get over yourself. I've been hurt by animals I love, does that make me hate them, no. There are going to be miscommunications. You can only try your best to understand and read the animal in question. Stop to think, hey maybe the reason the elephant threw me was because it didn't want its trunk touched. Maybe it had an injury on the trunk and and was startled by sudden pain. Etc etc etc.
I just find it ridiculous how easily swayed she was. Invisibility didn't love elephants as much as she thought.