No circus elephants have performed in the town since Tyke, even though there is no ban against it. Twenty years later, witnesses still remember the graphic scene, and the attitude in Honolulu toward animal-driven circuses is distrusting. People watched horrified from their cars, apartments, and the sidewalk. She raised her right foot to ask for help at one point before she succumbed to nerve damage and brain hemorrhages. Tyke lay on the side of a car with blood all over her body. Tyke’s rampage caused one death and 10 other serious injuries to onlookers. It was a foot chase between her and the Honolulu police. Tyke then broke through an iron gate and for 30 minutes she ran through the streets of the neighborhood’s business district at rush hour, nearly trampling the circus promoter when he tried to fence her in. Tyke went on to fatally crush her trainer, who was trying to intervene, before fleeing the arena herself. Terrified, the audience members bolted for the exits. The audience soon realized it wasn’t a dummy, but a severely injured animal groomer. On August 20, 1994, during the show in Honolulu, Hawaii with Circus International, Tyke entered the ring, kicking around what looked like a dummy. Should an Elephant's behavior be a hint to future danger?Ī year had passed and another circus elephant had gone on a rampage in Hawaii and had been shot to death. They ended up using another elephant to lure her back into the mosque with only $15,000 in damages. Taylor made her lie down a few times to remind her and the crowd that he could control her. Taylor tried to lead the elephant off the balcony, littered in elephant droppings and debris of apples and carrots, she would start to comply, then she would back up again. Taylor seemed to be using this device only for guidance.Įach time Mr. When the elephant reached the end of the balcony, he planned on using a bull-hook to turn her around. As the trainer fed the elephant carrots and apples from a bucket, he tried to guide her to the Jaffa Mosque’s doorway to get her inside with the rest of the animals. His demeanor and seemed unworried and relaxed. Her trainer, Tyrone Taylor, wearing a bright red and gold Arabian-looking jacket, walked patiently with her. It’s to be hoped that this cautionary and moving documentary will spread that cause even further.The elephant walked back and forth she didn’t seem particularly upset. The other good news is that the Hawthorn Corporation was found guilty in 2004 of multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act and was ordered to release its elephants to approved facilities. But as one commentator points out, it was still a victory, as no wild animals have appeared in live performances there ever since. Shortly after the Tyke incident, hearings were held in Honolulu to debate a proposed ban on the use of animals, which was was defeated. Voices from both sides weigh in, including an operative for the circus industry who went undercover and infiltrated animal rights groups. It’s then that the film fully delves into its true message, which is to decry the use of wild animals in live entertainments. Eventually police arrive and begin shooting, firing 87 bullets into the massive creature until it collapses dead onto a car, bleeding profusely. Enraged and disoriented, Tyke then storms out of the arena and tears through the city streets as people flee in terror. When Tyke’s trainer attempts to intervene, the 9,500 pound animal wearing a silly pink hat crushes him, killing him instantly. “Then I knew she was a runner,” he says, before revealing that three months later, Tyke attacked a circus worker in North Dakota.Īfter a brief teaser at the beginning, the film eventually gets around again to the Honolulu tragedy, with harrowing footage showing Tyke kicking around a young groom like a rag doll. Sixteen months before Honolulu, Tyke showed signs of rebellion in Altoona, Pennsylvania, although no one was hurt. Taylor had extensive experience with Tyke, and despite his affection for and gentle treatment of the animal he came to realized that trouble was brewing. “She was an unhappy camper,” comments a former handler, Sally Joseph, who expresses deep remorse for following orders in the pachyderm’s mistreatment.Ī primary interview subject is Tyrone Taylor, one of the first African-American animal trainers, who literally ran away with the circus after witnessing a performance by Gunther Gebel-Williams, who became his mentor. As the film makes clear, Tyke had a troubled history before the fateful incident, often rebelling at treatment that included being in chains for 22 hours a day and being disciplined by force.
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