Authorities in the Cantabrian region of northern Spain are investigating how an elephant killed a worker at a local zoo.
The Cantabrian regional government reported that Joaquín Gutiérrez, 44, died in a hospital on Tuesday, hours after an elephant hit him with a trunk while the man was cleaning his premises in the Cabárceno Natural Park, near Santander. .
The blow threw Gutiérrez, who smashed his head against the cage bars, according to authorities.
Gutiérrez has been working with elephants at the zoo for about 20 years, local tourism chief Javier López Marcano said in a statement on the regional government’s website.
The elephant that attacked him had a foot infection and is probably pregnant, Marcano said. The elephant weighs more than 4 tons.
Zoo and regional government officials could not be reached for Friday.
The police and CANTUR, the regional public tourism company of the Government of Cantabria that manages the Cabárceno Natural Park, are also investigating the incidents.