Kenya investigates tourist who poured beer into elephant at Ol Jogi

A video showing a Spanish tourist pouring beer into the trunk of a male elephant at a private wildlife conservancy in central Kenya has prompted investigations and renewed debate about tourist behaviour and wildlife protection. The clip, which the man posted to social media and later deleted, shows him drinking from a can of Tusker beer and then emptying the remainder down the elephant's trunk at the Ol Jogi Conservancy in Laikipia County. The footage has drawn widespread condemnation online and from conservation officials.

The man, who has described himself on social platforms as an "adrenaline junkie," captioned the post "Just a tusker with a tusked friend" and in a separate clip appeared to feed carrots to both elephants and rhinos, writing "We are on beer time." The elephant in the beer video has been identified by staff at the conservancy as Bupa, a male rescued as a calf from a mass cull in Zimbabwe in 1989 who has lived at Ol Jogi for decades. Ol Jogi is home to roughly 500 elephants and operates a rehabilitation programme for orphaned animals.

Conservancy staff said they were shocked by the footage and that such close interactions are not permitted. A member of the Ol...