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Academic sues luxury travel firm after being trampled by an elephant

Elephant - Simon Maina/AFP
Elephant - Simon Maina/AFP

A luxury UK safari operator is being sued for more than £200,000 after an academic was trampled by an elephant during a holiday in the Serengeti.

Sara Graves, a university lecturer and academic researcher, suffered a broken pelvis and other injuries after the wild animal attacked her at Lemala Ndutu safari camp in Tanzania in March 2019.

Ms Graves, 36, paid around £4,400 for the seven-night luxury safari holiday, which included staying in tented camps boasting leather sofas and chandeliers. She claimed that she was chased and trampled just after leaving her tent.

Left emotionally scarred

The academic, who lives in Vancouver and was on safari with her sister, said she was left emotionally scarred as well as physically injured.

She is now suing Yellow Zebra Travel Ltd, a Surrey-based safari specialist through which she booked the trip. It has been named Europe’s leading safari operator seven years in a row at the World Travel Awards.

Ms Graves claimed the company should take responsibility for camp staff failing to keep her safe from the elephant.

In papers lodged at the High Court in London, lawyers for Ms Graves said she booked her safari through the company after reading material on their website stating: “We have always employed the very best specialists … We want to inspire your complete confidence, so that when you book with us you know you’re being looked after from the beginning of your safari to the end … You’re in safe hands!”

‘You really are in very good hands’

Julian Carter-Mannning, director and co-founder of the company, said in a video on the Yellow Zebra website: “You really are in very good hands. Our staff design trips that they would go on themselves.

“Their job is to look after you … any safety concerns. From the moment you enquire to the moment you get back, we look after you.”

Court papers described how Ms Graves and her sister had “encountered a lone bull elephant which was missing a section of one tusk” that “appeared grumpy/ready to charge”, close to the camp on the morning of March 7 2019.

“At this time, they were the only residents at the camp. The camp was not fenced or enclosed; there were no barriers between the boundaries of the camp and the surrounding bush and its wild game,” her barrister Matthew Chapman QC said.

On the afternoon of the same day, Ms Graves had just left her tent and was walking on the “main path” through the camp when she suddenly came upon the same elephant, blocking her path.

Elephant lifted his front legs

The elephant trumpeted and lifted his front legs before charging the claimant, according to the claim.

“The elephant reached the claimant and knocked her down before trampling/attacking her,” said Mr Chapman.

Ms Graves’ sister and camp staff heard her screams and rushed to help. They threw rocks and bottles to scare it away and it backed off after 30 to 60 seconds, said Mr Chapman.

Her lawyers also claimed that camp staff were aware the elephant was in the camp and that Ms Graves was alone in her tent before the attack took place.

Camp staff should not have permitted or allowed Ms Graves “to return to her tent on foot, alone, unarmed and unescorted, at a time when an aggressive lone bull elephant was known to be in the camp vicinity and, indeed, was in the camp at the material time”, the lawyers added.

The defence of Yellow Zebra Travel Ltd is not currently available from the court. Yellow Zebra Travel said it would not comment while litigation is ongoing.