When Animals Attack: Elephants

Incidents in 2003-2000 Incidents in 1999-1996 Incidents in 1995-1990

The following is a partial listing of rampages by captive elephants since 1990. These incidents have resulted in 65 human deaths and more than 130 human injuries. Contact PETA for documentation.

2003:

March 19, 2003/Malacca, Malaysia: An elephant who appeared in the 1999 film Anna and the King, starring Jodie Foster, attacked and seriously injured a keeper at the Malacca Zoo during a bath.

March 2, 2003/Muskegon, Mich.: A 9,000-pound African elephant performing with Jordan World Circus at the Shrine Circus escaped from a tent shortly before a performance and was recaptured 15 minutes later in a busy downtown area.

February 19, 2003/Amsterdam, Netherlands: An African elephant at a Dutch safari park attacked and trampled her trainer to death during training exercises.

February 4, 2003/Kecheri, India: An elephant crushed his trainer to death as he laid down to rest.

February 2, 2003/Aluva, India: After being frightened by a traffic accident, an elephant rampaged, killing his keeper and damaging trucks and electric poles.

January 22, 2003/Cochin, India: An elephant attacked and killed his trainer while being taken to a temple festival.

2002:

December 15, 2002/Miami, Fla.: Flora, an African elephant, went on a rampage at Miami MetroZoo, knocking and kicking one elephant trainer 15 feet into a pile of rocks and injuring a second one who tried to stop the attack. The incident occurred as the trainer was demonstrating to 50 zoo visitors how the zoo dominates elephants. The zookeeper was critically injured, with broken shoulders, a broken arm, a bruised brain, and a ruptured spleen.

November 18, 2002/Pittsburgh, Pa.: An African elephant at the Pittsburgh Zoo butted a zookeeper, pinned him to the ground, and crushed him to death with her head. The keeper had been prodding the elephant with a bullhook during a morning walk.

October 15, 2002/La Piedad, Mexico: During a parade, an elephant grabbed his trainer with his trunk and hurled him several times to the ground, killing him.

July 21, 2002/Winnipeg, Canada: An elephant loaned to the Assiniboine Park Zoo by the Bowmanville Zoo injured her trainer.

June 17, 2002/Menomonie, Wis.: Two elephants, named Tory and Mary, performing with the Shrine Circus bolted out of a circus tent during a show, scattering crowds. Mary hiked 2 miles through town and was recaptured at the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus when trucks blocked her escape. One child was injured, and the elephants damaged a door at the park and caused $600 in damage to a city truck. The Shriners had contracted with George Carden Circus for the event.

May 28, 2002/Dhaka, Bangladesh: The owner of Seven Star Circus and two trainers were arrested and charged with negligence after a chained elephant grabbed a 10-year-old boy with her trunk, threw him to the ground, and trampled him to death. The boy had been petting the elephant when she suddenly went berserk.

March 13, 2002/Easley, S.C.: An elephant named Tonya, belonging to Robert Childress and used in various circuses, escaped the control of her handlers while she was being loaded into a trailer, fled into nearby woods, and was recaptured with the assistance of police. This is the fourth time that Tonya has run amok (see June 22, 2000/Washington, Pa.; February 16, 1998/Mentor, Ohio; and August 30, 1997/York, Maine).

February 2002/Pittsburgh, Pa.: An African elephant at the Pittsburgh Zoo injured a former Ringling elephant trainer hired by the zoo, causing a collapsed lung and leg injuries.

January 28, 2002/Phnom Penh, Cambodia: An elephant kept at a military camp knocked down and trampled a keeper to death as he was being fed. The elephant was later shipped to Cambodia’s national zoo.

2001:

October 27, 2001/Charlotte, N.C.: Two elephants leased by Hawthorn Corporation to Circus Vazquez rampaged throughout a church. Two church members were nearly trampled, and children had to be quickly ushered to safety. The elephants crashed into the church through a glass window, broke and buckled walls and door frames, and knocked a car 15 feet, causing an estimated $75,000 in damages. The elephants suffered cuts and bruises. One of the elephants had rampaged twice before (see July 10, 1995, and May 19, 1995).

October 20, 2001/London, England: A zookeeper was crushed to death when an elephant rolled on him at the London Zoo, while dozens of visitors looked on. Critics had earlier charged that the zoo's facilities were too cramped to keep elephants in. After the keeper's death, the London Zoo decided to send all three of its elephants to an animal park.

August 24, 2001/Knoxville, Tenn.: A 40-year-old elephant became spooked, broke free from her handlers, and smashed through a metal gate while being taken on a walk at the Knoxville Zoo. One handler required five stitches for a gash on his head caused when the elephant knocked him down, and another suffered a broken rib when the elephant swiped at him.

August 6, 2001/Czech Republic: A zookeeper at Dvur Kralove nad Labem zoo was killed when an elephant attacked him with his tusks, inflicting fatal injuries to his chest. The attack occurred after the keeper tripped over the elephant's chains while giving him an injection.

July 31, 2001/Singapore: A zookeeper was hospitalized with fractured ribs and a punctured lung after an elephant lifted him with his trunk and gored him during an afternoon walk.

July 17, 2001/Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: An elephant used in movies and TV commercials wrapped his trunk around his trainer and lifted him off the ground, breaking a rib and injuring his lungs.

June 14, 2001/Kathmandu, Nepal: An elephant used in a ceremony killed a woman and later chased a group of dignitaries after being taunted by a crowd of onlookers.

June 10, 2001/Denver, Colo.: When her trainer dropped a barrel during a bathing demonstration, a 6,700-pound elephant named Hope became startled and rampaged, throwing her trainer against a wall, scattering crowds of zoogoers, and knocking over a mother and her baby in a stroller. The baby was treated at a hospital for a bump on the head, the trainer suffered cuts and bruises, a man sprained his ankle, and a woman had an asthma attack while running away from the elephant. Hope was recaptured three hours later. Hope and a baby elephant had been leased two weeks earlier from the California-based company Have Trunk Will Travel to perform daily shows during the summer.

April 16, 2001/Broederstroom, South Africa: An elephant with Brian Boswell’s circus who was being used on a film set killed her handler. The elephant, who had been grazing, walked over, knocked down the handler with her trunk, and possibly stepped on him.

February 22, 2001/Moscow, Russia: A trainer was crushed to death by an elephant following a performance at the Moscow theater.

February 9, 2001/Chester, England: A zookeeper at the Chester Zoo was in critical condition with injuries to his head and shoulders after he was butted and knocked down by a 30-year-old Asian elephant. The man died after 11 days in the intensive care unit.

2000:

November 21, 2000/Bangkok, Thailand: Three politicians were thrown eight feet when an elephant they were riding panicked upon seeing traffic and bolted through the streets. One man suffered a broken arm, another sustained head, arm, and leg injuries, and the third man was badly bruised.

November 16, 2000/Lyon, France: Five elephants with a circus, panicked by a car horn, stampeded and wrecked six cars.

July 13, 2000/Bangkok, Thailand: An elephant used for giving rides to tourists gored a man to death after the man teased him by pretending to offer food.

June 22, 2000/Washington, Pa.: An elephant named Tonya traveling with Circus Hope became frightened when children approached her with toy horns. Tonya escaped the control of her handlers and was later led back to her tent by police officers, security personnel, and trainers. All the animals in the circus were "on edge" because of highway noise and the surface of the parking lot.

May 5, 2000/Maun, Botswana: An elephant being used in a safari operation was spooked and attacked a guide, killing him.

May 1, 2000/São Paulo, Brazil: A 9-year-old girl suffered a broken jaw and lost 10 teeth after an elephant being kept in the Sorocaba Zoo threw a large stone at her. The child had to undergo surgery, with another surgery scheduled later.

April 24, 2000/Bangkok, Thailand: An elephant used in a tourist park went berserk during a show and attacked three visitors, killing one and seriously injuring the other two.

April 20, 2000/Yucca Valley, Calif.: Two elephants being used by the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus escaped from their pens. One stomped down three city blocks, frightening bystanders. Authorities said that a circus employee trying to get the second elephant under control was "trampled."

February 14, 2000/Bangkok, Thailand: A bull elephant tossed his handler off his back and went berserk in the heart of Bangkok, stampeding through a major shopping district before being tranquilized. The elephant was hungry and exhausted from walking along the busy streets begging for money for his handler, a common practice in Thailand.

February 7, 2000/Thailand: A bull elephant, used as a working animal, killed one man and crushed the arm of another. The man's arm was so badly injured that it had to be amputated.

February 7, 2000/London, England: A keeper at a British zoo was crushed to death by one of the elephants in his care. The handler was found with multiple injuries in the elephant’s stall.

January 26, 2000/Riverview, Fla.: A female elephant named Kenya attacked and killed her trainer at the Ramos Family Circus winter compound. Kenya knocked the trainer to the ground, stepped on her, and knocked her down a second time when the woman tried to stand up. Kenya was used in the Ramos’ traveling shows and to give rides.

January 8, 2000/Thodupuzha, India: A show designed to get placed in the Guinness Book of World Records ended in tragedy when seven baby elephants panicked and ran amok, killing one bystander and injuring several others. Several cars—including that of the ambassador—were smashed. The secretary of India’s Elephant Protection Council said that elephants run amok or die mainly because of torture. The council said that 250 mahouts and 234 elephants have been killed in the state since 1980.

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