Circus elephants went berserk and inflicted harm

Girl trampled to death by irate Circus Elephant

News Story 1

A father brought her daughter Nguyen Thao Anh, 11, to offer food to a circus elephant in Lao Cai, Vietnam, a city on the border with China. Innocent, joyful and oozing with enthusiasm, the little girl got a sugarcane and offered it to the elephant which was inside a fenced area and chained in the legs.

But the beast was not in good mood. With its trunk, it picked the unsuspecting girl up, slammed her on the ground and stamped her to death, according to police authorities Sunday, October 16.

Police officer Phan Van Quang told AFP that the girl was trampled to death right on the spot.

Director of the Vietnam Circus Federation Nguyen Xuan Quang said the girl’s father was inside a telephone booth when the attack happened.

It was reported that the elephant was a veteran circus performer and that it was behaving normally, but the director added, that children had been teasing the animal.

<> <> <>

Tyke- a Circus elephant gone mad News Story 2

A female circus elephant in Honolulu, Hawaii went berserk on the 20th day of August, 1994. Named Tyke, the crazy animal attacked her trainer, Allen Campbell to death. Then she proceeded to attack with intense ferocity her groomer Dallas Beckwith who suffered severe injuries.

This bloody incident was witnessed by hundreds of horrified spectators during a circus performance at Honolulu’s Neal Blaisdell Community Center.

The rampaging beast for more than half an hour wrought fear and anxiety on the residents as it thundered along the streets of Kakaako where it heeded after bolting the circus arena.

Police closed in and fired at Tyke, which from the 86 bullets that found their mark, collapsed and died.

<> <> <>

Mary- the elephant that was hanged, News Story 3

This is a tale of Mary, a 5-ton Asian performing elephant of the Sparks World Famous Shows circus.

Barely 2 days after he was hired as assistant trainer, Red Eldridge- a former hotel worker-was killed by Mary on September 11, 1916 by stepping on his head and crushing it in Kingsport, Tennessee. Allegedly, the elephant got mad because Eldridge had prodded her behind the ear with a hook. The animal had stopped to nibble at a watermelon rind while they were on their way to a pond to drink and splash.

People gathered and chanted: “Kill the elephant! Kill the elephant”. Very soon a blacksmith fired more than 2 dozens rounds at Mary with little effect.

Circus owner Charlie Sparks decided to kill the elephant in public for obvious reasons. Newspaper accounts of protest saying Mary had already killed several workers in the past and that she was much bigger than the world-famous Jumbo, also a circus elephant, besides, town officials warned not to accept and entertain the circus if Mary is included.

On September 13, 1916 at Clinchfield railroad yard before a crowd of 2,500 adults and children, the elephant was hanged from a railcar-mounted industrial crane. At the first attempt, children fled in terror as the chain on Mary’s neck snapped in two. The severely wounded elephant as a result of the fall, finally died hanging after the second attempt. It was buried beside the tracks. More

Lesson and comment

Circus animals like elephants, lions, bears, etc have unpredictable and uncontrollable manners. Never let kids get very near them. Parents should protect their kids and should not lost sight of them even for a minute when in the circus or zoo. It is likewise the responsibility of circus or zoo management to see to it that spectators especially kids are free and protected from harm.

Please leave a comment as souvenir of your visit here. Thank you.