Authorities have launched an investigation after a tourist was filmed in a wildlife reservation drinking from a can of beer, before pouring the rest down an elephant’s trunk
An “adrenaline junkie” tourist has been slammed after he filmed himself pouring beer down an elephant’s trunk in Kenya.
Authorities have launched an investigation after a Spanish man was filmed in a wildlife reservation drinking from a can of popular local beer, before pouring the rest down an elephant’s trunk.
The man was seen next to the well-known bull elephant at the Ol Jogi Conservancy in the central county of Laikipia. He uploaded the shocking footage on Instagram, prompting a huge social media backlash.
The individual has since deleted the footage from his account. Staff members at the privately owned wildlife sanctuary were reportedly shocked by the behaviour, and said the videos would be given to the “relevant authorities”.
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“This should never have happened. We’re a conservation and we can’t allow that to happen,” a member of staff told the BBC. “We don’t even allow people to go near the elephants.”
The Kenya Wildlife Service was also investigating the video, according to the agency’s spokesperson Paul Udoto.
The tourist, who calls himself “adrenaline junkie” on TikTok, was seen in another clip on Tuesday feeding two elephants with carrots. He wrote in the caption: “We are on beer time.”
“He has also broken our rules because he was not supposed to touch the rhinos because they are not pets,” Dylan Habil from Ol Pejeta said.
Dr Winnie Kiiru, a Kenyan biologist and elephant conservationist, said the man’s actions had endangered the elephant.
“About 95% of elephants in Kenya are wild and it is wrong to have social media posts that give the impression that you can get close to the elephants and feed them,” she told the BBC.
The social media videos attracted hundreds of comments which were critical of his actions.
One user wrote: “Irresponsible human behavior endangers wildlife — strong measures are needed to protect animals like Bupa from such reckless acts.”
Another added: “Absolutely disrespectful! Pouring beer down an elephant’s trunk in Kenya isn’t just cruel it’s cultural ignorance at its worst. Animals deserve respect, not exploitation.”
is believed the elephant who was given the beer is Bupa, a male at Ol Jogi, who is often photographed by tourists.
He was rescued from a devastating elephant cull in Zimbabwe in 1989 when he was just eight years old.
The conservancy is home to around 500 elephants and rehabilitates animal orphans before releasing them back into the wild.