A wild bull elephant killed a tourist in Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand on Monday, a park official said, the third fatality involving the same animal.

A 65-year-old Thai tourist from Lopburi province was on a morning walk with his wife when he was trampled to death by an elephant named Oyewan, national park chief Chaiya Huayhongthong told AFP.

His wife managed to escape after park rangers scared the animal away, Chaiya said.

“He was the third person killed by Oyewan,” he said, adding that a wild elephant could have been responsible for several other deaths that remained unsolved.

Chaiya said authorities will meet on Friday to decide what to do with the elephant.

“We will probably decide to move him or change his behavior,” he said, without elaborating.

More than 220 people, including tourists, have been killed by wild elephants since 2012, according to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

The number of wild elephants in Thailand has risen from 334 in 2015 to nearly 800 last year, prompting authorities to give females contraceptive vaccines in an effort to control their growing population.

An an elephant killed a Spanish tourist while bathing the animal at a sanctuary in southern Thailand last January.

Another tourist was killed by an elephant in a national park in Loei province in northern Thailand in December 2024.

Recently, there have been fatal attacks by elephants in other parts of the world.

Last month, officials in India said a wild elephant was to blame killing at least 20 people and injuring 15 others in the forests of Jharkhand.

Last July there were two women from the United Kingdom and New Zealand killed an elephant while on a walking safari in Zambia.

In April 2025, officials in Kenya said a 54-year-old man was killed by an elephant in the central part of the country.

In January last year, he was a tourist killed by an elephant in South Africa’s famous Kruger Park.