AN elephant killed its trainer with a swish of its trunk at a Japanese zoo Sunday.

    Wichai Madee from Thailand was washing an Indian elephant with a colleague at Adventure World in Wakayama when the female became angered and swung its trunk.

    The trainer, 37, smashed into the iron bars of the elephant’s cage and was rushed to hospital where he later died.

    Police said, “The animal might have somehow become angry. It swung its trunk and the trunk hit the person who was working in front of the elephant.”

    “The person apparently was pushed hard and hit either the cage or the ground and hit his head.”

    Zoo staff called the police saying “an employee was attacked by an elephant.”

    The incident happened at around 9:15 a.m. before the zoo opened its doors to the public.

    Animal rights activists have rushed to defend the elephant, saying it is not the animals’ fault if they become angry while in captivity.

    One wrote on Facebook: “The simple fact of taking a wild animal from its natural habitat and forcing it to live in captivity changes the behavior of the animal.”

    (SD-Agencies)