In a tragic incident, a 64-year-old American tourist, Juliana Gle Tourneau, has been killed by an elephant in Livingstone. The incident occurred on Wednseday at approximately 17:50 hours near the Maramba Cultural Bridge on Victoria Falls Road.
Southern Province Police Commissioner Auxensio Daka confirmed the incident in a statement to ZNBC News. Tourneau, from New Mexico, USA, was traveling with others in a vehicle that had stopped due to traffic caused by elephants near the bridge. They parked off the road on the western side to observe the animals more closely when one of the elephants charged, knocking Ms. Tourneau down before trampling her.
“Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, of New Mexico, United States of America, died on Wednesday around 17:50 after being knocked from a parked vehicle which had stopped due to traffic caused by elephants around the Maramba Cultural Bridge,” Commissioner Daka explained.
This tragic event marks the second fatal elephant attack on an American tourist in Zambia this year. The previous incident occurred in March at Kafue National Park.
The authorities have urged tourists to exercise extreme caution and follow safety guidelines when observing wildlife to prevent such unfortunate incidents.
Fyakuifwaila
Wrong person attacked by elephant, it should have been the LT editor. These kind of reporting is treasonous.
“The elephant knocked her from a parked car…” was this a game-viewer vehicle, or passenger car? Was she inside the car, or standing outside?
Exactly. Lazy reporting..
Very tragic. Maybe the animals are trying to send some message.
SURE THEY ARE SENDING A MESSAGE Leave us alone !!!
Unfortunately our message and cries are being ignored by our GRZ
ZESCO ???????????????
This could have been avoided by driving away.
Of course it could have……. But our safari drivers like showing off
They should know take no wild animal for granted
It does not say anywhere that these people were in a safari vehicle. Furthermore, you would not know anything about the behaviour of elephants, as you irresponsibly killed all the ones in your area for their ivory and meat
Safari drivers need to be much better regulated along with their Employers.
Something has gone wrong. Lions leaving their habitats to kill domestic animals and elephants killing people.
Deja Vu June
21, 2024 At 8:26 am
“Something has gone wrong. Lions leaving their habitats to kill domestic animals and elephants killing people.”
So you , you think it the fault of HH…….??
We know how you think
@Spaka do you think HH is to blame? Tell us because I didn’t know that he was to blame. In Bemba we say akwanwa kamulandu kalaisosela.
Actually most of us didnt know that it was HH behind this elephant killing until Spaka sparked off his insinuations on LT. Now I see things clearly; so because he knows he is no longer popular with people, HH is now using animals for his 2026 campaign! The elephant identified the pro-UKA guide and tried to deal with him but missed and accidentally hit the tourist! Yaba! We are in trouble in 2026
HH is going to win in 2026. The good is that he will not steal. As for his economic policies, I really cannot say because Zambia is now run by the IMF, thanks to its inability to pay the US $32.5 billion borrowed and looted by Michael Satan and Edgar Lungu
Kekekekeke!
As an adventurer i know the dangers that comes with it…wild Animals are unpredictable ….CAN WE LEAVE WILD ANIMALS ALONE PLEASE…and by the way NO MINING IN THE LOWER ZAMBEZI
These things cannot go on as accidents, can we find solutions please. As an example can we place zawa wardens in elephant corridors in tourist resorts/towns. Such things will cost our tourism dearly if not well handled
We who come from provinces where we have preserved our wildlife have no problem living with it. Thank you, but we do not need your advice or ideas. Perhaps you can use your brain to determe how you too can have wildlife where you come from
I dont think the tourist and the guides observed Game reserve protocols here. They must have gone too close to the elephants. They arent big dogs! Just look at that picture and you will see that tourists from abroad get a thrill from a close encounter with wild animals. They want to tell a tale when they get back home.
In Livingstone, you can see elephants without riding a safari vehicle. It is possible that these people were driving on their own, which is a way to save money, but which can be dangerours
Where was the tour guide?
He is an UKA member can’t you read the posts?
Zambia’s tourism might get a knockdown in visitor numbers if tourists keep getting killed by elephants like this.This is the 2nd case withing 6months.
Now our competitors Kenya,Tanzania,Zimbabwe ,Botswana and Namibia will the ones to gain.
It’s like the people responsible have just abandoned their posts. Yes something has to be done before it’s too late.
Yayi bambo tourism doesnt work like that. On the contrary you will see more tourists flocking to Zambia.
Absolutely not. This kind of news will actually bring more tourists, because it will put Zambia in the news. The problem here is that the money generated by the 1 million tourists who visit Mus O Tunya falls every years has been going to the provinces of other people, and the infrastructure of livingstone itself leaves much to be desired. HH needs to commit US $1 billion to redress that city, all of the money coming from all of the money the town generates;
“The authorities have urged tourists to exercise extreme caution and follow safety guidelines when observing wildlife to prevent such unfortunate incidents”
Honestly speaking, the tourists follow what their tour guides and hosts tell them to do. This is tragic but to suggest that the tourist was at fault is criminal is wrong. The safari tour companies play with lives, the use of open vehicles is just asking for trouble. What happens when a Lion jumps into one of those open vehicles? Don’t even say they can’t because it has happened before. In this case of the elephant these safari tour companies must put in place more stringent measures, did they not know the elephant herd was crossing their path?
@ ingombe ilede
I have always been wondering as to what happens to the Tourism money…..???? And am surprised that even HH continues on the same path of neglecting Livingstone….the city looks very old and outdated with just a few tarred roads the rest is just gravel and potholes…..at least Livingstone needs 1.5 billion dollars for total transformation…the Airport road needs to be upgraded
Tourists don’t just come here for their experience. They want to take the experience home. So they also want memorabilia of different kinds-and that’s an industry you ve missed out on. The fantastic development of the camera in the past four decades means the tourist can more easily capture what he is seeing. You’re not going to ruin his lifetime experience by taking him on tour in a covered vehicle. Lions very rarely attack people and not those in vehicles
I saw a statement from a tour operator explaining that the victim was part of a team that had hired a self drive vehicle therefore its unlikely that they had a tour guide. The statement also said the victim had disembarked from the car to take pictures.
But how does the tour operator know this “fact” when they were self driven? I agree it’s very very unlikely for an elephant to pull someone out of a vehicle but it’s possible