Jeremy McGill, 30 of Mount Juliet, Tenn., was visiting Wild Elephant Valley in Yunnan, China, when an elephant lifted him up with its trunk and threw him, WSMV-TV, Nashville reported Monday.

Thursday's attack reportedly left McGill unconscious and in critical condition.

"Both his lungs were punctured. His stomach was punctured. His ribs were broken and his left shoulder was broken," the victim's mother Nancy McGill told reporters.

Elephants on the reserve have gone after spectators in the past when they were startled by camera flashes or loud sounds, a Chinese Foreign Affairs spokesman said.

McGill, who was said to be taking a photo at the time of the attack, was taken to Thailand for medical care.