Tyke (elephant)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steve Hirano attempts to hold Tyke behind a fenced gate as the animal went on a rampage.

"Tyke" was a circus elephant who on August 20, 1994 in Honolulu, Hawaii, killed her trainer, Allen Campbell, and mauled her groom Dallas Beckwith causing severe injuries during a Circus International performance before hundreds of horrified spectators at the Neal Blaisdell Center. Tyke then bolted from the arena and ran through downtown streets of Kakaako for more than thirty minutes. Police fired 86 shots at Tyke who eventually collapsed from the wounds and died.

1 Video footage
2 A history of problems
3 Aftermath
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Video footage

Since she was performing at the time, the majority of Tyke's attack was caught on tape. Video footage is available from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).^[1]

A number of television stations are located in the immediate vicinity of the Neal Blaisdell Center; right away, news crews were able to tape the runaway elephant stomping down Ward Avenue amidst passing cars, and footage was broadcast nationally. Tranquilizing equipment capable of subduing the animal was not readily obtainable from the Honolulu Zoo due to heavy rush hour traffic, leaving the police with little choice but to apply deadly force.

[edit] A history of problems

According to PETA this wasn't the first time Tyke had gotten loose and ran out of control. On April 21, 1993, 16 months before the incident in Hawaii, Tyke ripped through the front doors of the Jaffa Mosque during a performance and ran out of control for an hour in Altoona, Pennsylvania. An estimated 4,500 schoolchildren had to evacuate the building, and the rampage caused more than $14,000 in damage.^[2]
In an affidavit obtained by the USDA from a circus worker the next day on April 22, Tyke apparently had also attacked a tiger trainer while the circus was in Altoona, Pennsylvania.^[2]
It was also reported on July 23, 1993, that Tyke, "ran amok at the North Dakota State Fair in Minot, N.D., trampling and injuring a handler and frightening the crowd as she ran uncontrolled for 25 minutes."^[3]

[edit] Aftermath

In the aftermath, Tyke became the poster elephant of circus tragedies and a symbol for animal rights. Dozens of lawsuits were filed against the city, the state, the circus and Tyke's owner, John Cuneo Jr. and his Hawthorn Corp. The suits were settled out of court, but the amounts were never made public.^[4]