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Tyke's death Bewilderlingly, there appear to be several versions of Tyke's death. (a)She died from multiple bullet wounds. (b)The bullets failed to kill her and zoo officials were summoned to administer a lethal injection. (c)The third version is that Tyke was shot and wounded and she was then given a lethal injection: this failed to work and the police shot her again three more times 'at point blank range' and this killed her. * ''Local police fired 86 shots in their pursuit of Tyke. She eventually collapsed of her wounds but she was not dead. Officials then administered what was supposed to be a lethal injection. When the injection did not kill her, police fired three more shots at point blank range. Tyke finally died".[13]
The makers of the 'Tyke: Elephant Outlaw' documentary stated that one of the elephant keepers at the Honolulu Zoo told them it was version (c). After Tyke finally succumbed to the bullets fired at her, a member of the Honolulu Zoo staff was brought to the scene to put Tyke out of her misery with a lethal injection. However, this failed to work and a police officer with a high powered rifle (possibly obtained from a local gun shop) was told to fire three more shots into her heart. Incredibly, the police and the circus did not possess a tranquilliser gun (and even if they had, they would have surely argued it would have taken up to a half hour to take effect). Furthermore, the police had low powered weapons and had no idea of what parts of Tyke's body to fire bullets at in order to end her misery. In sum, it was a shambles and even in death Tyke had to suffer. As one police officer commented: 'The elephant reportedly took two hours to finally bleed to death'.[16] After the killing of Tyke, legislation was proposed in Hawaii. This can be found here. The proposed bill referred to Tyke and how 'a crane removed her bullet-ridden body' and that people had witnessed 'Tyke's slow and painful death'. Furthermore, her death 'was made even more horrendous because circus officials, zoo veterinarians, and police officers were not properly equipped and trained to effectively and mercifully kill a rampaging African elephant'. As noted, there have been 'four failed bills to ban exotic animal acts in Hawaii': two attempts were made in the Honolulu City Council and another two in the Hawaii Legislature and none were passed.[17] For later developments in the matter of Hawaii banning circuses, see item [11] in Aftermath. What is clear is that Tyke ran from the circus ring, bewildered and very scared and this increased when she encountered an environment with which she was wholly unfamiliar, i.e, streets full of vehicles and people. This would have been more than enough to terrify her. As she did this, Hawaiian police fired bullets into her, many into her head and as one report says, her eye(s) too. Her suffering was anything but quick. As stated: 'It was rush hour. She was disoriented and no idea where she was. She charged at bystanders and smashed cars as she made her way through several city blocks... The police were called out and started shooting at Tyke with rifles. She slowly fell over, then awkwardly stood back up. The police kept firing. Her head swayed, and her legs buckled. She got up again. The spray of bullets continued. She rocked her head violently from side to side. Her legs gave way once more. She was on her knees and could not right herself. Her eyes were fully open and confused. The shooting went on for several more seconds. Finally, she fell, very slowly, onto her side. This was Tyke's final performance. The price of freedom from the circus was steep. She was shot 87 times'.[18]As the article above remarks, the pitiful running around the local streets in fear and desperation as she sought safety, while she was also being shot with over eighty bullets, and then dying, still wearing the pink party hat the circus made her wear for her appearances, was indeed Tyke's 'final performance': This was the conclusion of 21 years of confinement, 'training', and being transported around the country to perform 'acts' for people who were entertained by such behaviour (Incredibly, despite all that happened that day, 'the circus went ahead with its Saturday evening show...'[19]) * Media reports comment on how Tyke 'rampaged' for half an hour in the streets. On consulting the Map for the area, it can be seen that she did not manage to get very far. After escaping the circus at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Tyke travelled south-west along Ward Avenue and Queen Street (towards the coastline) and entered Ilaniwai Street, by which time she was injured and bleeding, Once in Ilaniwai Street, she underwent a slow painful death that apparently took hours. Her body was necropsied at the quarantine station and it was then taken to the landfill dump to be buried with tons of waste and rubbish and to then disappear under the refuse and rubbish that was subsequently dumped there. Some may argue that this serves as a suitable illustration of how humans treat and view circus animals. * The fact that Tyke had reacted with clear anger and aggression on three occasions during the previous year (see 'The Life of Tyke'), and these are just the reported cases, one naturally wonders why she continued to be used in a circus setting. * Noteworthy is how Joseph, an ex-Hawthorn Corp. employee, speaks in the 'Tyke: Elephant Outlaw' documentary, and comments on how Tyke appears to be listening for/to something during her attack on Campbell. Indeed, on watching the film, Tyke stops and her ear movements, which are very distinct, indicates that she is listening to something (Elephants have very good hearing and are also able to hear at levels not available to humans.[20]). Presumably this was related to the other elephants in the circus background. It therefore appears, sadly, that she believed the only beings who were interested in her plight at that time, were the other elephants, who were, of course, incapable of doing anything to assist. The video filming shows that her attack on her 'trainer' Campbell in the circus ring was deliberate and there can be no doubt that she intended to finish him off. Naturally, this leads to the question of why she felt the need to do this. What is known is the sad fact that as 20+ years' of rage and anguish had built up inside her, and she made the ultimate gesture to show her misery, she believed that she was entirely on her own and had no other choice...
Postscript It should be noted that, incredibly, this was not the first occasion when an elephant had reacted in Honolulu and was killed for this. This occurred with an elephant called Daisy in 1933. In 1916 Daisy had been purchased for Kapiolani Park, and according to one report 'children could be seen daily riding on her back around Kapiolani Park'. However, in 1933 Daisy attacked and trampled to death George Conradt, her 'keeper'. She was then shot by police and buried at sea. Another report states that Daisy arrived on a ship carrying animals for zoos and circuses, and Honolulu city merchants were persuaded 'to purchase Daisy and for years she delighted Honolulu children. Many recall riding as a youngster around the park on her back'. It goes on to say 'in 1933...for unexplained reasons, she attacked and trampled to death her keeper George Conradt'. She was then shot dead by police officers. It is truly amazing that the reason for her violent reaction - after 17 years - is said to be 'unexplained'. [21] One newspaper refers to how Conradt 'was leading her to her undersized shed', when she reacted. After flattening and killing Conradt, 'a squad of Honolulu police circled Daisy and opened fire. She fell dead at 3:50 p.m'. The report goes on to say 'Daisy had become ill-tempered and unmanageable, no doubt worsened by occasional cruel pranksters who burned her trunk with cigarettes or fed her chewing gum, which made her sick', and 'more than once, she [had] turned on spectators'. It also describes how Daisy lived 'spending her days giving children rides around the same dusty path at a dime apiece. In the evening she was confined to her tiny shed, restrained by a short, heavy chain attached to a stake'. [22] And yet her final reaction is said to be 'unexplained'?. As Tyke, Daisy had displayed clear signs of distress beforehand (injurying someone), and yet she was forced to continue working, Also, as Tyke, after Daisy was shot dead by police officers, her body was simply dumped out of sight, i.e, 'it was unceremoniously hauled four miles out to sea and dumped'.[22] References [1]Ex-employee of Hawthorn Corp., owner of Tyke. Quoted from 'Tyke: Elephant Outlaw'. [2]Warden at Paws Sanctuary, San Andreas, California. Quoted from 'Tyke: Elephant Outlaw'. [3]Frank Scheck, 'Tyke, elephant outlaw: film-review', Hollywood Reporter, 4 September 2015. [4]Patrick J. Battuello, 'Tyke’s rebellion', Times-Union, 18 December 2013. [5]'The tragic life of Tyke the elephant'. Captive Animals Protection Society. [6]'Tyke's last performance', Animal Writings, 7 March 2005. [7]Laura Malt Schneiderman, 'Remembering an elephant rampage in Altoona', Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 28 July 2014. [8]'‘Tyke’ was buried in isle landfill', Star Bulletin, 24 March 1999. [9]Mike Gordon, 'Documentary depicts Tyke as tragic figure, not outlaw', Honolulu Star Advertiser, 22 February 2015. [10]Mike Gordon, 'Tale of Tyke the elephant disturbs, inspires filmmaker', Honolulu Star Advertiser. 25 August 2013. [11]'Team 4: Elephant was exposed to violence', WTAE, 21 November 2002 [12]Tessa Berenson, 'Why the circus is saying goodbye to elephants', Time. 5 March 2015. [13]David Alan Nibert, Animal Rights, Human Rights: Entanglements of Oppression and Liberation, Rowman and Littlefield, (2002), p.78. [14]J. Hribal and J. St. Clair, Fear of the Animal Planet: The Hidden History of Animal Resistance , CounterPunch. (2013). [15]Kim Stallwood, ed, A Primer on Animal Rights: Leading Experts Write about Animal Cruelty and Animal Cruelty and Exploitation, Lantern Books (2004), p.131. [16]'Shooting to kill an animal: A sad but necessary skill', Policeone, 5 December 2011. [17]Will Hoover, Op. cit. [18]'Tyke's last performance', Animal Writings, 7 March 2005. [19]'Circus elephant goes berserk, is shot after killing trainer', Los Angeles Times, 22 August 1994. [20]e.g., http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/Senses/Hearing/hearing.html http://www.elephantexperts.org/senses.html http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/06/elephant_ears_n.html [21]http://www.discover-oahu.com/honolulu-zoo.html and http://waikiki.com/zoo.html [22]'1933 attack cost life of beloved zoo star', Honolulu Advertiser, 22 August 2004. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Aug/20/ln/ln21a.html |