http://zambiareports.com/2015/...esearcher-in-zambia/

Elephant Kills American Researcher in Zambia

Peter Adamu


July 6, 2015

A 29-YEAR-OLD researcher from the USA has been killed by an elephant in the Kafue National Park in Mumbwa, the police have said.

Margarita Metallinou was in the company of two male American researchers when the animal attacked them and killed her.

Central Province police commissioner Lombe Kamukoshi said in an interview yesterday that the elephant killed Metallinou near Hook Bridge on Tuesday around 13:30 hours when the trio ventured in the park without game rangers.

Kamukoshi said when Metallinou saw the animal, she screamed and it charged at her while her colleagues managed to run away.

She said Jeffrey Weinell, 24, one of the male researchers, gave a statement to the police in Mumbwa about the incident and the death of Ms Metallinou.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...phant-in-Zambia.html



US researcher killed by elephant in Zambia
Woman, 29, named as Margarita Metallinou by local media, was in Kafue National Park when the elephant charged


Aislinn Laing By Aislinn Laing, Johannesburg3:38PM BST 06 Jul 2015



A 29-year-old American researcher has been killed in Zambia after she was trampled by an elephant.
The woman, named by local media as Margarita Metallinou, was working in the Kafue National Park in central Zambia with two male colleagues when the accident happened at around 1.30pm last Tuesday.
Police said that the three were unaccompanied by game rangers. Lombe Kamukoshi, police commissioner for Zambia’s Central Province, said Dr Metallinou saw the animal and screamed, alerting her colleagues who managed to run away as it charged.
One of her colleagues, named as 24-year-old Jeffrey Weinell, gave a statement to police about what happened.
Dr Metallinou, a post-doctoral researcher at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, had written academic papers mainly on desert-dwelling reptiles such as geckos and snakes in the Middle East and North Africa.
Before moving to the US, she studied at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and undertook a Master of Science and wrote a PhD at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) in Barcelona.
In a statement, the IBE said she was devoted to her field. “She always showed an enthusiastic behaviour towards scientific challenges and was able to create a stimulating atmosphere around her.
"Although she is not anymore among us, her memories will live on.”


The exact circumstances of the attack are not yet known, but male bull elephants are known to be particularly aggressive when in “musth” – a condition where the levels of its reproductive hormones increase dramatically.
In April, a well-known game hunter named Ian Gibson was killed in neighbouring Zimbabwe when he was charged and trampled to death by a young bull elephant in musth while scouting for an American client.
An American tourist was killed by a lion at a safari park outside Johannesburg in June.

Really sad.
What makes me queasy is that a lady was killed when with 2 men and rangers.
Thanks Kathi.

"Police said that the three were unaccompanied by game rangers." No game rangers=trouble.

It is plenty dangerous enough to take a walk in elephant country even when carrying a loaded elephant rifle.

If attacked, one would still have to get off a fast and accurate shot, and that is no sure thing.

This poor woman, with no suitably armed escort, did not have a snowball's chance in hell.

I have been into deep Indian jungles with researchers and they have a lot of technical knowledge but little bush sense. Often they wear bright or white clothes that attract attention!

This woman screamed! I wonder if this was before the charge started.

I remember in India a British Tea planter was killed by a tusker in the 1960s. Two people had gone out looking for a pig or small game for the pot. They had a light rifle (6.5 MS IIRC) They came upon the tusker at probably 50 meters. This guy waved his hat at the animal to chase it away & it charged and killed him.

These were men who lived for decades in Tea plantations and around game animals.

It's called Natural Selection/Survival of the fittest

quote:

They had a light rifle (6.5 MS IIRC) They came upon the tusker at probably 50 meters.

They had obviously never heard of W.D.M. Bell

Shame. Condolences to the young lady's family.

the article said the three entered the park without rangers

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Shame. Condolences to the young lady's family.

Yes.

Very sad indeed.

But, we have to bear in mind that being out with wild animals, things sometimes do not go as planned.