Elephant Kills Long Island Woman and Daughter in Kenya

Sharon Brown and her daughter, Margaux

A woman from Long Island was trampled by a wild elephant in Kenya as she held her 1-year-old daughter in her arms. The child was also killed in the incident, which happened on Monday afternoon during a nature walk near the Castle Forest Lodge, where they were vacationing. Sharon Brown, 39, originally from Miller Place, Long Island, and her daughter, Margaux, were killed; Brown's husband and three other tourists survived. The Browns 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.

"The elephant emerged from the bush at full speed without any warning," lodge owner Melia van Laarvan Laar told the AP. "Everybody ran away, but the lady, burdened by the weight of the baby, perhaps, or in panic, was not able to run fast enough." 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 was an excellent student and beautiful person," said her father John Laurie. "She was loved by everybody and loved to travel extensively."

Witnesses say the elephant came upon the hikers from behind, and a spokeswoman for the Kenya Wildlife Service, Kentice Tikolo, told the AP, "It was a lone elephant and lone elephants can be quite dangerous. It probably felt quite threatened." Tikolo also says that deaths by charging elephants are rare in Kenya, and happen about once a year. However, the Daily News reports that more than 15 people (typically Kenyans, not foreign tourists) are killed by wild animals each year, three-quarters of them by elephants. In fact, humans are killed by wildlife so routinely that the Kenyan Wildlife Service has a set rate for compensation: $389 per death.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on January 7, 2010 9:20 AM

Comments [rss]

potsmoker

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?

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

asshole.

potsmoker

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.'

Dude69

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!

potsmoker

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...

Rocknrope

Asshole.

myq

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...

2020

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

NannyState

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?

JenChungsBaby

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

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

RIP sweet baby.

CoolRiver

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.

LaliP

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.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

Fishfrying-100% agreed. Sorry for missing the sarcasm

thelordsofflatbush

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

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

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.

Dude69

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!

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

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.

Angelheaded Hipster

okay

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

Tricksta

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