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The life of Tyke was about 21 years. Despite this period of time, we only have five items of published information, usually very brief, and each of these is a confirmation of her misery and unhappy state. |
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'Training' baby elephants |
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The life of Tyke was about 21 years. Despite this period of time, we only have five items of published information, usually very brief, and each of these is a confirmation of her misery and unhappy state. |
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Stefan Moore informs us that Tyke was born in Mozambique, and after witnessing the slaughter of her family, was transported to America. At some point after this, she became the property of the Hawthorn Corporation Mike Gordon, 'Tale of Tyke the elephant disturbs, inspires filmmaker', Honolulu Star Advertiser, 25 August 2013 | ||
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There follows a period of silence for fifteen years during which time she is 'trained' for performing in the circus. Readers will have to use their imagination about what this involved. The silence is broken when we are told that in 1988: 'According to USDA documents, Tyke was beaten in public to the point where she was 'screaming and bending down on three legs to avoid being hit'. The trainer said he was 'disciplining" her'.' 'According to USDA and Canadian law enforcement documents, while a Hawthorn elephant named Tyke was performing with Tarzan Zerbini Circus, 'The elephant handler was observed beating the single-tusk African elephant in public to the point [where] the elephant was screaming and bending down on three legs to avoid being hit. Even when the handler walked by the elephant after this, the elephant screamed and veered away, demonstrating fear from his presence'. 'Tyke's rebellion, The Examiner, 10 May 2010. PETA: Info sheet. TEC: 'Tyke the elephant, and her fellow victims of captive animal entertainment', tippedearclan.wordpress.com/2007/03/29. |
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Nearly five years pass and the reader will again have to use their imagination about Tyke's life in this period. In 1993, 'an elephant named Tyke ripped through the front doors of the Jaffa Mosque during a performance and ran out of control for an hour in Altoona, Pa. An estimated 4,500 schoolchildren had to evacuate the building, and the rampage caused more than $14,000 in damage'. PETA: Info sheet. 'Remembering an elephant rampage in Altoona', Press Enterprise, 29 July 2014. |
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According to an affidavit obtained by the USDA from circus worker, Tyke the elephant attacked a tiger trainer while the circus was in Altoona, Pa. PETA: Info sheet. Liquisearch: Tyke (elephant): History of problems |
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Just over a year passes by which time Tyke's behaviour has become more frantic and the reader will have to decide why this should have happened. After being confined on a ship for four days, Tyke arrived in Honolulu. On the fourth and last day there, she killed her trainer who was found to have had alcohol and cocaine in his system and was known to be a 'punishment type'. He had been dismissed from a Denver Zoo job after colleagues accused him of abusing elephants. Tyke escaped and was shot 87 times and then dumped in the landfill. PETA: Info sheet. 'Team 4: Elephant was exposed to violence', WTAE, 21 November 2002>/font>.
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| Place of Tyke's birth | Mozambique |
| Year of birth/capture | 1973 (Some sources say 1974) |
| The victim | Tyke |
| Circus from which Tyke escaped | Circus International at Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii |
| The owner of Tyke | John Cuneo, Jr. of Hawthorn Corporation |
| Place of death | Ilaniwai Street. Kakaako central business district, Honolulu, Hawaii | Date of death | 20 August 1994 |
| 'Trainer' of Tyke | Allen Campbell (killed by Tyke) |
| Groomer of Tyke | Dallas Beckwith |
| Location of Tyke's body | Waimanalo Gulch landfill, Hawaii |
| Lawyer who sued Cuneo on behalf of plaintiffs | William Fenton Sink |
| Producers of 'Tyke: Elephant Outlaw' | Jumping Dog Productions |
