Elephant Kills Long Island Woman and Daughter in Kenya

ahh yeah, asshole. why hasnt the white man every fixed it? because the system is designed to keep it that way,

the today version of the white man is helping while profiting when your not looking.

the old version was the white man profiting and showing it off.

either way the darks have it bad for some strange reason?

asshole.

you know you won the internet argument when you cant respond or refute the facts point by point and resort to calling me an a-hole.

file this story under 'when white guilt goes wrong.'

Wait, asshole, you totally forgot how this story is related to hundred years of colonization of 3rd world countries, slavery, and destruction of indigenous cultures..by the white man!

this really isnt news in the scheme of things.

i want to know about a woman with a starving baby in long island or how many babies die in africa every day because of poverty, starvation or disease.

ist news because it has important features...

white woman, baby, killed by an elephant.

if any white black or brown woman was killed in a traffic accident in melville, it wouldnt be local news here and you wouldnt be commenting or caring.

peace corps volunteer, because you know local africans arent educated enough to be librarians...

use a search engine and find lots of criticism of peacecorops and white guilt or white privlege.

in a nutshell you feel guilty youre well off and head out with the idea that you can change the world helping some africa community of huts and sh*itholes have a better life, and have a great resume builder about being covered in flies while helping the primitives dig a well, all this expediture of resources dont go two ways.

are you willing to host an african and teach them the ways of america, hotdogs and apple pie, showing them the better world of corporate life and credit card usage, take them to a 3d movie, while they sleep in your house and you need to explain how to use a toilet or how the magic box that keeps lettuce cold works. NO, its a bullshit system then says better yourself by interfering in some primitives life, not beter a primitives life by having him intrude on yours...

Asshole.

i will miss you sharon.

i remember when we first met on our way to bangladesh. you were calm, reserved, yet confident. i remember well, sitting around the table in dhaka as we were all adjusting to the harsh realities of third-world life. you became like an older sister to me, leading the way and setting an example.

i was secretly relieved when i found that you would be in chittigong, just a 1 hour bus ride from my posting. you saved my sanity often when i brought a mountain of frustrations and negativity every time i visited. despite the crazy, inhumane world of chittigong, you somehow kept your cool and managed to help me see the bigger picture.

our bicycle tour of the tea gardens in sylet was a highlight of my time in bangladesh. as a young, naive american living abroad for the first time, your experience, insight, and cool really helped me adapt and learn to actually enjoy my life there.

i don't think i ever told you, but i was jealous when you continued serving in the peace corps after we were evacuated from bangladesh. i couldn't deal with it, but you, even-keel as usual, forged ahead. i talked about you often, although we lost touch. i wanted to visit you sometime, meet your new family, and see your new world. i wish i had not waited.

i'm sorry i broke your guitar string when you were learning to play. i don't think i ever bought a replacement. what can i do now?

i know you were always trying to make the world a better place. i hope i can follow in your footsteps...

i don't believe in any god, but wherever they are right know i hope the lady and her baby are in peace.

Why did they have to go all the way to Africa to get trampled by elephants when they could haved saved the airfare and just gone shopping at a Wal-Mart?

Show some respect, dammit. An acquaintance of the deceased has created a new Gothamist account to tell us about their casual relationship.

RIP sweet baby.

Hipster: Stupid question. And totally inappropriate. You should start by having respect for a woman you didn't know who was the victim of a terrible tragedy. I did know her. I grew up with her and her brother. I graduated with her. And though we were not close I maintain a relationship with many of the people who were very close to her. She was a very special person. And her very generous reach extended far beyond her immediate family and friends. If you read some of the other articles about her you'd find she got up everyday intent on making the world a better place. She joined the Peace Corps and spent the last 20 years of her life helping those less fortunate, all over the world. She lived in Africa. I'm sure she knew of the dangers. That doesn't change the fact that this is a tragedy or that I could just as easily walk across my very safe street carrying my baby and get hit by a car. I can't begin to comprehend the why. I also can't begin to comprehend the loss felt by her husband, or brother, or father, or her many friends in America and all over the world. And I am broken hearted and sad, as is our entire community. Please try to remember this isn't just a news story. Sharon was our friend and she was a wife, and mother and sister and colleague and she was someone who will be missed dearly.

everyone is talking about vacations and travelling but the woman WORKED in kenya, therefore it's safe to assume she probably LIVED there as well. and being that the child was only 1 year old, it's probably safe to assume the baby was born there. sheesh.

Fishfrying-100% agreed. Sorry for missing the sarcasm

i'd shoot the baby. with the gun. in the tree. accompanied by colonel mustard

And there is no reply on the mobile but why is your first solution to kill? Why cant I help her run or take the baby and run or distract the elephant? My first reaction won't be to kill the elephant but to help the baby.

You idiot, don't you know it's impossible to outrun a charging elephant, especially with a baby in your arms! At that point it's shoot first and hope that the elephant falls before the mom and baby gets trampled! It's NOT animal cruelty but a matter of life and death!

Angelhead, you don't know my answer. You called those rescued dogs Vernin. So please don't dare judge me. I respect ALL life which you obviously don't.

okay

christine quinn and me are being attacked by an enraged elephant --- you have the rifle---who do you save?

Asshole Hipster,

You use a tragic story involving someone you know nothing about to pick a fight w/a stranger on the internet. Pathetic.

Get a life.

p.s. Karma's a b!tch

no, if Angelhead is using a current event to pose a moral question. It's called conversation. You are retarded.

Let's Bomb Kenya!

I think Kenyans have babies too, right? So, babies have been to Kenya before, probably in close proximity to elephants.

well, Kenyans are clearly irresponsible parents. Infants should be encased in $1300 carriages parked inside a hipster bar in Billyburg at all times.

You're right. Silly me.

Truth be told, (if you don't have an elephant gun) the only option on foot when confronted by an aggressive elephant is to hold your ground and make a lot of noise. Otherwise, depending on their mood - this tragic event will happen.

I wonder if the group was aware that they were "in an area where hikers are advised to travel with an armed guard to defend them against stampeding elephants, but they were with an unarmed hotel guide." If they were, and brought themselves and their daughter into that area anyway, then they are idiotic people and horrible parents. Yes, I'll blame the victim.

Wow, illiteracy runs rampant on here, doesn't it?

If some of you would take the time to RTFA, you would have read about how both Mr. and Mrs. Brown live and work in Kenya. Their trip to this nature preserve would be akin to a hiking trip for most of us here.

Condolences to Mr. Brown for his immeasurable loss.

too bad they didn't have an armed guard with them so they could have just blasted this beast and continued on their way merrily hiking with a one year old through the savage plains of Africa.

hello, that is the elephant natural habitat. It's not a beast.

are you joking?? obviously i was being sarcastic. it seems kind of unfair to the elephants that people who can't just run away (ie a woman carrying a baby) are allowed to stroll through the elephant's natural habitat and fire at will. in other words, if any such person entered the wildness with an armed guard, they would essentially be signing a death warrant for any elephant who crossed their path. maybe she was very conscious of that and that was part of her reasoning for traveling without a guard. in any case, tragedy all around.

You're right. I hope the guns are mainly used for their noise to frighten the animals, but doubt this is always the case. I dislike the idea of natural reserves as tourist destinations.

I dont blame the Elephant, thats for sure.

There are MORE appropriate places to take a 1-year old.

Eywa doesnt take sides, only provides balance of life.

Poor Mr Brown. =( While I feel bad for Mrs Brown and the baby, they're dead. Mr Brown has to live with this.

Why not. I travelled all over the world before I was 5. Can't remember any of it. But the stories of me being places made me want to go back, gave me a desire to go new places, see new things etc.

By your logic why bring them anywhere? Where would you bring a 1 year old?

I'm the person who takes the adults-only booking of the Disney cruise. I don't have a problem with those who want their children to enjoy the world, I just don't understand it. I can barely afford to take myself, and if I'm going to sink a lot of money into a vacation, I want my child to be able to remember it.

I am glad that your parents were able to afford (or perhaps were sent for business or military) to bring you all over the world. While you can't remember, I'm sure those have been wonderful pictures to look at and enjoy.

I didn't defend my statement, so there was no logic of mine to go by. I was just asking a simple question; albeit with heightened exasperation. It's sad that this woman and her daughter died, and she sounds like a lovely person who contributed to the betterment of the world.

It was just the first thing that came into my head, and I couldn't have been the only person who thought that.

Disney Cruise. That says it all.

If you're relying on an expensive, cuturally pedestrain, cruise to do all the traveling for you, you're doing it wrong. Get a guide book. Find a cheap flight during a shitty season when no one wants to travel, take public transportation (the world is covered with train tracks) and stay in hostels or cheap hotels out of the city. Glamourous? Not always- but you're also not stuck on a boat with a bunch of furries in the middle of the ocean with endless fruity boozy drinks as your only escape.

People die on cruises, too.

Is it true that the pool on the Disney cruise is seven percent urine? Or do your adult clients have a separate pool for themselves?

WHY bring your 1 year old daughter on a trip to Kenya?!

Right... Babies have never been known to live in Kenya. Americans should never take babies abroad especially to a shithole like *gasp* the African continent.

My brother works for an NGO, and he and his wife currently have a baby in Namibia. The baby is just fine and blessed with many hospitals and a myrid of safety measures.

The only mistake here is that the group leader wasn't carrying a gun. It is the third world and America has a unique system of law that will hold a recklessly unprepared tour leader libel.

What are you bitching about? Between the two deaths, they're being compensated $796, enough money to feed a family of four in Africa for two years.

When you write stuff like this, you do realize that people who loved and cared about Sharon are reading it, right? I am one of them. Do you people really enjoy making a joke out of our pain? Is this "fun" for you? YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE WORLD HAS LOST. If you did, you would not be talking the way you are or making light of this.

Sorry, I know this was a horrible tragedy but this is a blog and what gets discussed here, including painful subjects is often filtered through the usual untruths, venom, personal agendas and smartasses like myself. To cut through this, please feel free to let us know more about Sharon and the work that she did so we can express our sympathies more appropriately. For now, please accept my condolences.

i was a volunteer with sharon in bangladesh. she then went on to volunteer in uganda for two years. her husband was also a volunteer in africa, i think also in uganda but a few years earlier, for two years. she was a selfless person who cared for everyone, always looked on the bright side, and listed more than she spoke. i imagine a lot of the troubles in this world would disappear if everyone were more like her.

So what, a great humanitarian can still make horrible choices and endanger herself and those around her. It's NOT an excuse!

I knew someone would blame the dead lady.

RTFA

'Brown, a former Peace Corps volunteer, worked as the librarian at the International School of Kenya in Nairobi, where her husband is a teacher.'

she sounds like a horrible person who probably deserved it. groan.

I now see she lived there and the headline made me think she was visiting "from Long Island".

However, I find it humorous that you think I'm blaming the dead lady for dying.

All I was blaming her for was bringing a 1-year old child to Kenya. IF she was a tourist, I don't care if she's w/ the Peace Corps, I would be just as annoyed standing next to a crying baby when I'd shelled out $5000 for my vacation.

That's not saying she deserved to die or that the baby made her die or that I'm blaming her for anything other than bringing a child way too young to ever remember anything that was going on along with her on a trip.

Very sad.

Sharon's baby was born in Kenya and had lived there her entire life. They were on holiday not far from where they lived and worked for the past few years.

no harm intended. intitally I thought the same thing, but then I caught myself.

whenever somebody dies tragically it seems we always point out what they did wrong, the lesson in it. "We're they wearing a helmet!" "They shouldnt have been out late/in that area/alone" whatever.

Its as if we have to assure ourselves that things happen for a reason. The world makes sense and by understanding it bad things wont happen to us. I think we say those things for our own benifit.

This lady was trampled by an elephant. Who could have saw that coming? Not me. Its just a crazy random event in my book. bad shit happens sometimes no matter how prepared you are.

peace

Who could have saw that coming? Well, the place they were staying in for one, which advised hikers in that area to be with armed guards.

exactly. i'm all for adventure but ween them from the tit first.

felix--purely philosophical question: would you shoot the elephant as it was bearing down on them?

Felix shows all the typical personality traits of a serial killer, actually.

You're really are an asshole. First if anyone, man or elephant, was rushing towards you in an attack form then you would defend yourself, wouldn't you? You would run or if you can't run then defend yourself? And if you are alone and strangers are in your territory and these strangers may be poachers then you would attack. I don't blame the woman or the elephant. It was a tragedy. ASSHOLE.

you seem very angry

and you didn't answer the question---would you shoot down the elephant and save the baby

and if so: why? the baby was in the elephants territory, as you point out

You're an idiot. As I stated if you or anyone were under threat of attack by either human or elephant then you would run or defend yourself? wouldn't you? I'm not angry it just that sound like a real asshole. And I have hiked before in Corfu and Amazon, and there are signs warning people of falling rocks and animal attack including deadly snake bites. So when I hike I know the risk and shouldn't be so surprise when a rock does hit me or an animal attacks.

maybe you don't understand me

you are hiding in a tree with a powerful laser rifle

you see the elephant charging at the baby and you have a chance to kill the elephant before he tramples the baby. do you do it?

thats all i'm asking

He doesn't want to answer.

Because your question is inappropriate in this story about a Tragedy.

how is it inappropriate? you don't want to answer because you equate the life of a baby with the life of an elephant, which you know is insane

yet you have enough shame to know to keep it to yourself

you're an interesting guy

Seems appropriate to ask whether you'd shoot an elephant charging at a baby in a story about an elephant who charged at and killed a baby.

For the record, I'd shoot the elephant.

I don't mind the hypothetical, but it takes a lot of bullets to kill an elephant, although a properly placed sniper bullet might be an exception.

Either way, I'm not much of an animal rights guy, but elephants are very much like humans in terms of their emotions. The more their elders have been poached for their ivory, the more out of control the younger ones get without adult supervision. I've made this reference before, but they're like wild packs of unsupervised NYC teens at 3pm on the subway (ie. stay the fuck away at all costs).

Truly sad for the family, and sad that this used to not be such a huge problem with elephants attacking humans.

"The Grey Menace"

ABC offers a more extensive article regarding this tragedy. It details the fact that the Browns asked more than once if the trail was safe for a child and were assured by both the guide and the owner of the lodge that it was safe:

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory?id=9507524

" It details the fact that the Browns asked more than once if the trail was safe for a child and were assured by both the guide and the owner of the lodge that it was safe:"

I wouldn't agree that it's accurate to say it "details the fact." What the article says is that the family alleges that they weren't warned, but that the lodge says that while the hike is "suitable" for a child, they were warned about the danger and that a warning is also "posted on an information board."