Woman’s Arm Crushed in Elephant’s Mouth on Vacation

A New Hampshire woman’s arm was crushed by an elephant while she was on vacation and posing for photos with the animal.

Beth Bogar had been staying at Mason Elephant Park & Lodge in Bali, Indonesia, at the time of the incident last week, New Hampshire media service News 9 reported.

Bogar had just finished riding on the elephant’s back and swimming with it when she put her arm under its trunk to pose for a photo. Bogar told News 9 that the elephant’s trainer had suggested this.

That was when Bogar’s arm became stuck in the elephant’s mouth. “I couldn’t get my arm out. I could just hear cracking and I just started to panic,” Bogar told News 9.

Elephants are usually very gentle creatures but, as they are wild animals, they can still cause injuries to humans in certain situations. They only usually injure people by mistake, or when they become provoked or distressed.

After the elephant let go of her arm, it continued to swell for several hours. Bogar then had to be rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.

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While riding the elephant, Bogar said her trainer told her he had been with the animal for 24 years. “He knew this elephant. I just feel as though he was guiding me and he let my arm get too close to his mouth—and I didn’t know how close too close was,” Bogar told the news outlet.

Mason Elephant Park & Lodge specializes in close encounters with elephants. The animals at the park are rescued Sumatrans. Bogar chose the resort specifically for that reason, News 9 reported. “It was a vacation that I was dreaming about,” she said.

Elephants do not usually bite humans and while they are herbivores, they do have long sharp teeth on either side of their mouth, which are effective for breaking down tough vegetation.

Following the incident, the elephant rescue park reached out to News 9 and said that since it had opened 26 years ago, nothing like this had ever occurred.

Bogar said she received $4,800 from the resort to help cover her medical fees. Her surgery came to around $10,000, News 9 reported.

In a statement shared with the news outlet, Mason Elephant Park & Lodge said the elephant who had bitten Bogar’s arm has a “gentle soul.”

In the approximately 20 years the elephant had been at the park, it had “never shown any aggression towards guests,” the statement said. The resort told the News 9 that the situation was “sad and regrettable.”

Bogar said she was aware of the risks and did not blame the elephant.

“Just think twice before you add something like this to your itinerary, because in a split second, your entire trip can really be changed, and not just your trip, but your entire life,” she told News 9.

Original Article