Showing posts with label circuses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label circuses. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Bear in high-wire motorbike stunt and example of China's animal cruelty
A picture of a bear forced to ride a high-wire on a motorbike with a monkey in tow has been released by a charity to bring attention to the cruelty inflicted on animals in China's zoos and theme parks.
By Peter Foster in Beijing
Published: 9:00PM BST 09 Aug 2010
The image is one of a number of pictures released by the British charity Animals Asia, others show bears being forced to box, toothless tigers riding on the back of horses, pigs being pushed off a 10ft diving board and monkeys performing handstands on the horns of a goat.
They are included in a report, released in Hong Kong, which found widespread maltreatment of animals at 13 safari parks and zoos across China that were visited by their representatives between over the past 12 months.
The scenes are expected to intensify calls for China to speed up the enactment of its first ever animals rights law, a draft proposal of which was submitted to the authorities earlier this year but is yet to receive official approval.
David Neale, Animals Asia's animal welfare director, said that many of the animals were often brutalised during training for their "tricks" and kept in unsanitary, cramped conditions when away from public display.
"The animals are housed in small, barren, concrete enclosures often in darkened rooms at the back of the performance areas away from the visitors," the report said, "Many of the animals have no visible access to water.
Animals have no access to a shelter to hide from individuals within their enclosure, and no attempts are made to meet the behavioural needs of these species."
Mr Neale added: "Animal performances portray the animal to the public in a humiliating way that does not promote empathy and respect. There is little educational value in seeing animals in conditions that do not resemble their natural habitat.
"Teaching animals to perform inappropriate tricks does nothing to educate the public or foster respect for animals. These performances teach the public nothing except for the animals' size, shape and colour" China is increasingly aware of its poor image abroad for animal welfare, and last week the country's State Forestry Administration (SFA) launched a campaign to stop animals being abused for profit and public display.
However, animal rights experts said it would take time to change public attitudes, with it being common to see animal displays that would be considered cruel by most Western audiences drawing large and enthusiastic crowds.
The vastness of China and a lack of funds to compensate the owners whose livelihoods depend on the animals 'working', also made it difficult to enforce new regulations.
Within days of the recent SFA announcement, for example, Chinese newspapers reported that Beijing's zoo was still allowing Lele, a young chimpanzee, to pose for photographs with visitors at £2 per time.
Staff at the zoo explained that plans to cancel the chimp's appearances had been delayed by legal considerations because its owner had a contract with the zoo.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7934866/Bear-in-high-wire-motorbike-stunt-and-example-of-Chinas-animal-cruelty.html
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Elephant kills trainer at Pennsylvania circus
(CNN) -- Tragedy struck at a Pennsylvania circus Friday after a startled
elephant stomped its trainer to death, police said.
People at the Irem Shrine in Wilkes-Barre, which has been hosting the James Hamid Circus all week, rushed to help but not before the trainer sustained life-threatening injuries, said police Lt. Steven Oshefski.
It was unclear what spooked the elephant, but the pachyderm was calmed by those on the scene.
The victim is not being identified until next-of-kin have been notified, Oshefski said.
The incident was classified as a workplace accident and the investigation has been turned over to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A balloon vendor at the circus told CNN affiliate WBRE that the death was shocking.
"In the 30 years I've been doing my vending, I've never heard an animal killing their trainer and all," said Ed Conrad. "So something must have happened."
Oshefski said the elephant came into contact with electrical wires, but it was unclear what exactly startled the animal. Animal rights activists decried the use of animals in circuses. "It should come as no surprise that elephants and other animals sometimes snap and attack circus employees and members of the public," said Robbyn
Brooks of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
"PETA has obtained shocking photos and video of circus trainers as they beat elephants and subject them to violent training methods using barbaric devices such as bullhooks," Brooks said. Circus members observed a moment of silence for the elephant handler who died, WBRE reported. The circus, however, made a decision almost immediately after the death that the performance would go on.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/10/circus.worker.elephant/index.html
elephant stomped its trainer to death, police said.
People at the Irem Shrine in Wilkes-Barre, which has been hosting the James Hamid Circus all week, rushed to help but not before the trainer sustained life-threatening injuries, said police Lt. Steven Oshefski.
It was unclear what spooked the elephant, but the pachyderm was calmed by those on the scene.
The victim is not being identified until next-of-kin have been notified, Oshefski said.
The incident was classified as a workplace accident and the investigation has been turned over to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A balloon vendor at the circus told CNN affiliate WBRE that the death was shocking.
"In the 30 years I've been doing my vending, I've never heard an animal killing their trainer and all," said Ed Conrad. "So something must have happened."
Oshefski said the elephant came into contact with electrical wires, but it was unclear what exactly startled the animal. Animal rights activists decried the use of animals in circuses. "It should come as no surprise that elephants and other animals sometimes snap and attack circus employees and members of the public," said Robbyn
Brooks of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
"PETA has obtained shocking photos and video of circus trainers as they beat elephants and subject them to violent training methods using barbaric devices such as bullhooks," Brooks said. Circus members observed a moment of silence for the elephant handler who died, WBRE reported. The circus, however, made a decision almost immediately after the death that the performance would go on.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/10/circus.worker.elephant/index.html
Thursday, March 18, 2010
UN animal conference tackles Mideast animal trade
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer Zeina Karam, Associated Press Writer – Wed Mar 17, 4:55 am ET
BEIRUT – A 2-year-old lion, emaciated and barely breathing, is found in a tiny cage off a Beirut highway. Monkeys are hauled through the dark tunnels of Gaza, bound for private zoos. Rare prize falcons are kept in desert encampments by wealthy Arab sheiks.
The trade in endangered animals is flourishing in the Middle East, fueled by corruption, ineffective legislation and lax law enforcement.
"It's a problem in the Arab world that we can no longer ignore," said Marguerite Shaarawi, co-founder of the animal rights group Animals Lebanon.
The group is pushing for Lebanon to join the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, whose signatories are meeting this month in Qatar. It is the first time the 175-nation convention is meeting in an Arab country.
Lebanon and Bahrain are the only Arab countries yet to sign the convention.
Delegates at the U.N. conference are considering nearly four dozen proposals on a range of endangered species from rhinos to polar bears.
John Sellar, chief enforcement officer for CITES, said it is difficult to estimate the extent of the illegal trade in the Arab world, but Animals Lebanon estimates that it is the third largest illegal trade in the region, after weapons and drugs.
"Much of the illegal trade that takes place here is of a specialized nature," Sellar said, citing the example of prize falcons, kept by many Arab sheiks in desert encampments, particularly in the United Arab Emirates.
"We've also seen some smuggling of very exotic species ... like very rare parrots, young chimpanzees, gorillas and leopards that seem to be for the private collections of some of the rich individuals in the Gulf area," he said.
Several recent incidents have underscored the plight of animals in Lebanon — a country where the only law that refers to animal rights stipulates that anyone who purposely harms an animal has to pay a fine of up to $15.
Willem Wijnstekers, the secretary-general of CITES, said countries must have strong laws in place to discourage animal smuggling. Otherwise, he said, smugglers will simply see the penalties as part of the cost of doing business, and not a deterrent.
In December 2009, Animals Lebanon began a campaign against Egypt's Monte Carlo Circus after it received a tip that the circus animals — six lions and three tigers — did not have proper certificates and had not received water or food during the six-day trip from Egypt to Lebanon.
The group sent several activists and a veterinarian to the circus grounds to investigate, and they reported the animals were malnourished and that one cub had been de-clawed.
The circus was declared illegal in January after Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan sent the ministry's own experts to investigate, but the circus has appealed. While the case continues, the circus is still giving daily performances attended by small crowds.
"The case of the circus, and the trade of the lions and tigers, highlighted the urgent need to have Lebanon join CITES and protect these endangered species," Hajj Hassan said.
A circus employee at a recent performance denied the animals were treated badly.
"They say we are not feeding them. Look at them, do they look hungry to you?" the employee asked the audience as lions and tigers dutifully performed acrobatics around a caged tent near a highway just north of Beirut.
There was no official comment from the circus.
The animals looked healthy at the performance, weeks after the allegations were made.
In February 2009, Animals Lebanon managed to close down a zoo and rescue its 42 neglected and dying animals that had become a health hazard to its neighbors.
The starving animals languishing in dirty, rusty cages included bears, jackals, a chimpanzee, monkeys and a vulture that had apparently spent years tied by a chain that prevented it from flying or moving out of its cage, which measured just 20 square feet (2 square meters).
"The lion and chimpanzee died, but we flew the monkeys to a sanctuary in Wales and two bears to a sanctuary in Turkey," Shaarawi said. "I cannot describe the happiness I feel when we are able to rescue abused animals and find new homes for them."
In September, a 2-year-old lion cub was rescued by members of another local animal welfare organization after he was apparently abandoned off the main road in Beirut by the owner of the pet shop that imported him.
The severely dehydrated "King of the Jungle" was emaciated and malnourished with open sores on his body, according to Beta, the organization that rescued him. Beta tried to save the animal — which the group named Adam — but it died shortly after it was found.
There are similar problems across the region.
In Egypt, a gateway from Africa to the Middle East, there is a flourishing chimpanzee trade and exotic animals are frequently smuggled in and out. The owners are believed to bribe airport officials to look away.
Last year, panic broke out on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Egypt when a foot-long baby crocodile wriggled out of a passenger's hand luggage.
In blockaded Gaza, residents smuggle animals through tunnels that link the territory to Egypt to supply their private zoos. Smugglers proudly speak of hauling lions, monkeys and exotic birds through the underground passageways, making deals with animal smugglers in Egypt.
Most animals are drugged first, but in a particularly cruel practice, zoo owners usually rip out the teeth of lions to ensure they don't bite visitors.
Activists say many of the pet shops in Lebanon are unlicensed and keep the animals in appalling conditions without proper health care.
One pet shop owner who identified himself only by his first name, Elie, to avoid "trouble" from activists, scoffed at the allegations.
"Everything in here is legal," he says of the dogs, cats, parrots and rabbits he sells. Asked whether it was fair to keep a puppy locked up in a cage the size of a bird cage, he shrugged: "They are fine. It is only until I sell them."
___
Associated Press writers Diaa Hadid in Gaza and Sarah El Deeb in Cairo contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
http://www.animalslebanon.org/
http://betalebanon.org/
http://www.cites.org/
___
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100317/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_un_smuggling_animals
BEIRUT – A 2-year-old lion, emaciated and barely breathing, is found in a tiny cage off a Beirut highway. Monkeys are hauled through the dark tunnels of Gaza, bound for private zoos. Rare prize falcons are kept in desert encampments by wealthy Arab sheiks.
The trade in endangered animals is flourishing in the Middle East, fueled by corruption, ineffective legislation and lax law enforcement.
"It's a problem in the Arab world that we can no longer ignore," said Marguerite Shaarawi, co-founder of the animal rights group Animals Lebanon.
The group is pushing for Lebanon to join the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, whose signatories are meeting this month in Qatar. It is the first time the 175-nation convention is meeting in an Arab country.
Lebanon and Bahrain are the only Arab countries yet to sign the convention.
Delegates at the U.N. conference are considering nearly four dozen proposals on a range of endangered species from rhinos to polar bears.
John Sellar, chief enforcement officer for CITES, said it is difficult to estimate the extent of the illegal trade in the Arab world, but Animals Lebanon estimates that it is the third largest illegal trade in the region, after weapons and drugs.
"Much of the illegal trade that takes place here is of a specialized nature," Sellar said, citing the example of prize falcons, kept by many Arab sheiks in desert encampments, particularly in the United Arab Emirates.
"We've also seen some smuggling of very exotic species ... like very rare parrots, young chimpanzees, gorillas and leopards that seem to be for the private collections of some of the rich individuals in the Gulf area," he said.
Several recent incidents have underscored the plight of animals in Lebanon — a country where the only law that refers to animal rights stipulates that anyone who purposely harms an animal has to pay a fine of up to $15.
Willem Wijnstekers, the secretary-general of CITES, said countries must have strong laws in place to discourage animal smuggling. Otherwise, he said, smugglers will simply see the penalties as part of the cost of doing business, and not a deterrent.
In December 2009, Animals Lebanon began a campaign against Egypt's Monte Carlo Circus after it received a tip that the circus animals — six lions and three tigers — did not have proper certificates and had not received water or food during the six-day trip from Egypt to Lebanon.
The group sent several activists and a veterinarian to the circus grounds to investigate, and they reported the animals were malnourished and that one cub had been de-clawed.
The circus was declared illegal in January after Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan sent the ministry's own experts to investigate, but the circus has appealed. While the case continues, the circus is still giving daily performances attended by small crowds.
"The case of the circus, and the trade of the lions and tigers, highlighted the urgent need to have Lebanon join CITES and protect these endangered species," Hajj Hassan said.
A circus employee at a recent performance denied the animals were treated badly.
"They say we are not feeding them. Look at them, do they look hungry to you?" the employee asked the audience as lions and tigers dutifully performed acrobatics around a caged tent near a highway just north of Beirut.
There was no official comment from the circus.
The animals looked healthy at the performance, weeks after the allegations were made.
In February 2009, Animals Lebanon managed to close down a zoo and rescue its 42 neglected and dying animals that had become a health hazard to its neighbors.
The starving animals languishing in dirty, rusty cages included bears, jackals, a chimpanzee, monkeys and a vulture that had apparently spent years tied by a chain that prevented it from flying or moving out of its cage, which measured just 20 square feet (2 square meters).
"The lion and chimpanzee died, but we flew the monkeys to a sanctuary in Wales and two bears to a sanctuary in Turkey," Shaarawi said. "I cannot describe the happiness I feel when we are able to rescue abused animals and find new homes for them."
In September, a 2-year-old lion cub was rescued by members of another local animal welfare organization after he was apparently abandoned off the main road in Beirut by the owner of the pet shop that imported him.
The severely dehydrated "King of the Jungle" was emaciated and malnourished with open sores on his body, according to Beta, the organization that rescued him. Beta tried to save the animal — which the group named Adam — but it died shortly after it was found.
There are similar problems across the region.
In Egypt, a gateway from Africa to the Middle East, there is a flourishing chimpanzee trade and exotic animals are frequently smuggled in and out. The owners are believed to bribe airport officials to look away.
Last year, panic broke out on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Egypt when a foot-long baby crocodile wriggled out of a passenger's hand luggage.
In blockaded Gaza, residents smuggle animals through tunnels that link the territory to Egypt to supply their private zoos. Smugglers proudly speak of hauling lions, monkeys and exotic birds through the underground passageways, making deals with animal smugglers in Egypt.
Most animals are drugged first, but in a particularly cruel practice, zoo owners usually rip out the teeth of lions to ensure they don't bite visitors.
Activists say many of the pet shops in Lebanon are unlicensed and keep the animals in appalling conditions without proper health care.
One pet shop owner who identified himself only by his first name, Elie, to avoid "trouble" from activists, scoffed at the allegations.
"Everything in here is legal," he says of the dogs, cats, parrots and rabbits he sells. Asked whether it was fair to keep a puppy locked up in a cage the size of a bird cage, he shrugged: "They are fine. It is only until I sell them."
___
Associated Press writers Diaa Hadid in Gaza and Sarah El Deeb in Cairo contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
http://www.animalslebanon.org/
http://betalebanon.org/
http://www.cites.org/
___
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100317/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_un_smuggling_animals
Saturday, November 14, 2009
India orders all zoo and circus elephants moved to wildlife parks after animal rights outcry
By NIRMALA GEORGE, Associated PressNovember 13, 2009
NEW DELHI - All elephants living in Indian zoos and circuses will be moved to wildlife parks and game sanctuaries where the animals can graze more freely, officials said Friday.
The decision affects around 140 elephants in 26 zoos and 16 circuses in the country, said B.K. Gupta, an officer at India's Central Zoo Authority.
The order followed complaints from animal rights activists about elephants that are kept in captivity and often chained for long hours, Gupta said.
The elephants currently living in zoos or circuses are to be moved to "elephant camps" run by the government's forest department and located near protected areas and national parks. There they would be able to roam and graze freely, but "mahouts," or traditional elephant trainers, would still keep an eye on them.
Some elephant experts, however, were skeptical about moving the elephants to wildlife preserves, many of which are under pressure from encroaching human habitation.
"Special facilities have to be created, perhaps outside the wildlife sanctuaries. It may add to the pressures faced by natural habitats," said Raman Sukumar, a professor of ecology at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
Increasingly, research shows that elephants in the wild have longer life spans and better health and reproductive records than those in captivity, Sukumar said.
Zoo elephants often die prematurely and contract diseases or suffer obesity and arthritis more frequently than in their natural habitats, he said.
India has an estimated 28,000 wild elephants living in forest reserves and national parks, mainly in the southern and northeastern parts of the country. Another 3,500 elephants live in captivity, many of them in temples, or working in logging camps where they are used to lift timber. No decision has been made about them.
http://www.startribune.com/world/69957047.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ
(Submitted by D.R. Shoop)
India orders all zoo and circus elephants moved to wildlife parks after animal rights outcry
By NIRMALA GEORGE, Associated PressNovember 13, 2009
NEW DELHI - All elephants living in Indian zoos and circuses will be moved to wildlife parks and game sanctuaries where the animals can graze more freely, officials said Friday.
The decision affects around 140 elephants in 26 zoos and 16 circuses in the country, said B.K. Gupta, an officer at India's Central Zoo Authority.
The order followed complaints from animal rights activists about elephants that are kept in captivity and often chained for long hours, Gupta said.
The elephants currently living in zoos or circuses are to be moved to "elephant camps" run by the government's forest department and located near protected areas and national parks. There they would be able to roam and graze freely, but "mahouts," or traditional elephant trainers, would still keep an eye on them.
Some elephant experts, however, were skeptical about moving the elephants to wildlife preserves, many of which are under pressure from encroaching human habitation.
"Special facilities have to be created, perhaps outside the wildlife sanctuaries. It may add to the pressures faced by natural habitats," said Raman Sukumar, a professor of ecology at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
Increasingly, research shows that elephants in the wild have longer life spans and better health and reproductive records than those in captivity, Sukumar said.
Zoo elephants often die prematurely and contract diseases or suffer obesity and arthritis more frequently than in their natural habitats, he said.
India has an estimated 28,000 wild elephants living in forest reserves and national parks, mainly in the southern and northeastern parts of the country. Another 3,500 elephants live in captivity, many of them in temples, or working in logging camps where they are used to lift timber. No decision has been made about them.
http://www.startribune.com/world/69957047.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ
(Submitted by D.R. Shoop)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Jumbo roadblock
Published Date: 07 November 2009
A couple driving home from church in Oklahoma crashed into an elephant in the middle of the road.
It had escaped from a nearby circus and run across a rural main road in Enid, north of Oklahoma City.
The couple were not injured in the crash, but police said the elephant had a broken tusk and a cut leg.
http://www.lep.co.uk/weirdnews/Jumbo-roadblock.5804482.jp
A couple driving home from church in Oklahoma crashed into an elephant in the middle of the road.
It had escaped from a nearby circus and run across a rural main road in Enid, north of Oklahoma City.
The couple were not injured in the crash, but police said the elephant had a broken tusk and a cut leg.
http://www.lep.co.uk/weirdnews/Jumbo-roadblock.5804482.jp
Jumbo roadblock
Published Date: 07 November 2009
A couple driving home from church in Oklahoma crashed into an elephant in the middle of the road.
It had escaped from a nearby circus and run across a rural main road in Enid, north of Oklahoma City.
The couple were not injured in the crash, but police said the elephant had a broken tusk and a cut leg.
http://www.lep.co.uk/weirdnews/Jumbo-roadblock.5804482.jp
A couple driving home from church in Oklahoma crashed into an elephant in the middle of the road.
It had escaped from a nearby circus and run across a rural main road in Enid, north of Oklahoma City.
The couple were not injured in the crash, but police said the elephant had a broken tusk and a cut leg.
http://www.lep.co.uk/weirdnews/Jumbo-roadblock.5804482.jp
Friday, November 6, 2009
SUV nearly slams into elephant
By Sean Murphy, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OKLAHOMA CITY - It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant?
A couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday. "Didn't have time to hit the brakes. The elephant blended in with the road," driver Bill Carpenter said Thursday. "At the very last second I said 'elephant!"'
Carpenter, 68, said he swerved his SUV at the last second and ended up sideswiping the 29-year-old female elephant on U.S. 81 in Enid, about 80 miles (129 kilometres)north of Oklahoma City.
"So help me Hanna, had I hit that elephant, not swerved, it would have knocked it off its legs, and it would have landed right on top of us," he said. "We'd have been history."
The couple, who own a wheat farm, weren't injured. But the 8-foot, 4,500-pound (2.4-meter, 2,040-kilogram) elephant was being examined Thursday for a broken tusk and a leg wound. A local veterinarian said it appeared to have escaped major injury.
"I thought this can't be happening. Out here you could hit a deer or a cow, but this can't be happening. The good Lord was with us," Carpenter said. The elephant's tusk punched through the side of the SUV, tearing up sheet metal.
After sideswiping the elephant, his wife, Deena, flagged some people down and used their cellphone to call police.
"The dispatcher didn't believe her: 'You hit a what?"' he said. "I told my wife, I don't know whether to cry or laugh."
Enid veterinarian Dr. Dwight Olson said the elephant was hiding in some bushes just off the highway when he arrived shortly after the accident. Handlers from the circus were able to calm it down, and Olson cleaned the leg wound and gave it some pain killer.
The elephant was taken Thursday to the veterinary school at Oklahoma State University for a follow-up exam.
"I don't believe there's a broken bone, but I don't have an X-ray room big enough to examine it," Olson said.
The elephant had escaped from the Family Fun Circus at the Garfield County Fairgrounds earlier Wednesday after something spooked it while it was being loaded into a truck with another elephant, Olson said.
David Sacks, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said late Thursday the elephant is owned by the same license holder of two elephants that escaped after getting spooked by a tornado in WaKeeney, Kansas, last year. The license holder is Doug Terranova, Sacks said.
A booking agent for the circus, Rachael Bellman, said she was unaware of the incident, and a telephone message left with circus officials wasn't immediately returned.
Carpenter joked about being involved in such a bizarre accident on what is usually a peaceful church night.
"I don't know what was in the wine, but it must have been pretty strong," he said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/11/05/11647271-ap.html
OKLAHOMA CITY - It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant?
A couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday. "Didn't have time to hit the brakes. The elephant blended in with the road," driver Bill Carpenter said Thursday. "At the very last second I said 'elephant!"'
Carpenter, 68, said he swerved his SUV at the last second and ended up sideswiping the 29-year-old female elephant on U.S. 81 in Enid, about 80 miles (129 kilometres)north of Oklahoma City.
"So help me Hanna, had I hit that elephant, not swerved, it would have knocked it off its legs, and it would have landed right on top of us," he said. "We'd have been history."
The couple, who own a wheat farm, weren't injured. But the 8-foot, 4,500-pound (2.4-meter, 2,040-kilogram) elephant was being examined Thursday for a broken tusk and a leg wound. A local veterinarian said it appeared to have escaped major injury.
"I thought this can't be happening. Out here you could hit a deer or a cow, but this can't be happening. The good Lord was with us," Carpenter said. The elephant's tusk punched through the side of the SUV, tearing up sheet metal.
After sideswiping the elephant, his wife, Deena, flagged some people down and used their cellphone to call police.
"The dispatcher didn't believe her: 'You hit a what?"' he said. "I told my wife, I don't know whether to cry or laugh."
Enid veterinarian Dr. Dwight Olson said the elephant was hiding in some bushes just off the highway when he arrived shortly after the accident. Handlers from the circus were able to calm it down, and Olson cleaned the leg wound and gave it some pain killer.
The elephant was taken Thursday to the veterinary school at Oklahoma State University for a follow-up exam.
"I don't believe there's a broken bone, but I don't have an X-ray room big enough to examine it," Olson said.
The elephant had escaped from the Family Fun Circus at the Garfield County Fairgrounds earlier Wednesday after something spooked it while it was being loaded into a truck with another elephant, Olson said.
David Sacks, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said late Thursday the elephant is owned by the same license holder of two elephants that escaped after getting spooked by a tornado in WaKeeney, Kansas, last year. The license holder is Doug Terranova, Sacks said.
A booking agent for the circus, Rachael Bellman, said she was unaware of the incident, and a telephone message left with circus officials wasn't immediately returned.
Carpenter joked about being involved in such a bizarre accident on what is usually a peaceful church night.
"I don't know what was in the wine, but it must have been pretty strong," he said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/11/05/11647271-ap.html
SUV nearly slams into elephant
By Sean Murphy, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OKLAHOMA CITY - It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant?
A couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday. "Didn't have time to hit the brakes. The elephant blended in with the road," driver Bill Carpenter said Thursday. "At the very last second I said 'elephant!"'
Carpenter, 68, said he swerved his SUV at the last second and ended up sideswiping the 29-year-old female elephant on U.S. 81 in Enid, about 80 miles (129 kilometres)north of Oklahoma City.
"So help me Hanna, had I hit that elephant, not swerved, it would have knocked it off its legs, and it would have landed right on top of us," he said. "We'd have been history."
The couple, who own a wheat farm, weren't injured. But the 8-foot, 4,500-pound (2.4-meter, 2,040-kilogram) elephant was being examined Thursday for a broken tusk and a leg wound. A local veterinarian said it appeared to have escaped major injury.
"I thought this can't be happening. Out here you could hit a deer or a cow, but this can't be happening. The good Lord was with us," Carpenter said. The elephant's tusk punched through the side of the SUV, tearing up sheet metal.
After sideswiping the elephant, his wife, Deena, flagged some people down and used their cellphone to call police.
"The dispatcher didn't believe her: 'You hit a what?"' he said. "I told my wife, I don't know whether to cry or laugh."
Enid veterinarian Dr. Dwight Olson said the elephant was hiding in some bushes just off the highway when he arrived shortly after the accident. Handlers from the circus were able to calm it down, and Olson cleaned the leg wound and gave it some pain killer.
The elephant was taken Thursday to the veterinary school at Oklahoma State University for a follow-up exam.
"I don't believe there's a broken bone, but I don't have an X-ray room big enough to examine it," Olson said.
The elephant had escaped from the Family Fun Circus at the Garfield County Fairgrounds earlier Wednesday after something spooked it while it was being loaded into a truck with another elephant, Olson said.
David Sacks, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said late Thursday the elephant is owned by the same license holder of two elephants that escaped after getting spooked by a tornado in WaKeeney, Kansas, last year. The license holder is Doug Terranova, Sacks said.
A booking agent for the circus, Rachael Bellman, said she was unaware of the incident, and a telephone message left with circus officials wasn't immediately returned.
Carpenter joked about being involved in such a bizarre accident on what is usually a peaceful church night.
"I don't know what was in the wine, but it must have been pretty strong," he said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/11/05/11647271-ap.html
OKLAHOMA CITY - It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant?
A couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday. "Didn't have time to hit the brakes. The elephant blended in with the road," driver Bill Carpenter said Thursday. "At the very last second I said 'elephant!"'
Carpenter, 68, said he swerved his SUV at the last second and ended up sideswiping the 29-year-old female elephant on U.S. 81 in Enid, about 80 miles (129 kilometres)north of Oklahoma City.
"So help me Hanna, had I hit that elephant, not swerved, it would have knocked it off its legs, and it would have landed right on top of us," he said. "We'd have been history."
The couple, who own a wheat farm, weren't injured. But the 8-foot, 4,500-pound (2.4-meter, 2,040-kilogram) elephant was being examined Thursday for a broken tusk and a leg wound. A local veterinarian said it appeared to have escaped major injury.
"I thought this can't be happening. Out here you could hit a deer or a cow, but this can't be happening. The good Lord was with us," Carpenter said. The elephant's tusk punched through the side of the SUV, tearing up sheet metal.
After sideswiping the elephant, his wife, Deena, flagged some people down and used their cellphone to call police.
"The dispatcher didn't believe her: 'You hit a what?"' he said. "I told my wife, I don't know whether to cry or laugh."
Enid veterinarian Dr. Dwight Olson said the elephant was hiding in some bushes just off the highway when he arrived shortly after the accident. Handlers from the circus were able to calm it down, and Olson cleaned the leg wound and gave it some pain killer.
The elephant was taken Thursday to the veterinary school at Oklahoma State University for a follow-up exam.
"I don't believe there's a broken bone, but I don't have an X-ray room big enough to examine it," Olson said.
The elephant had escaped from the Family Fun Circus at the Garfield County Fairgrounds earlier Wednesday after something spooked it while it was being loaded into a truck with another elephant, Olson said.
David Sacks, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said late Thursday the elephant is owned by the same license holder of two elephants that escaped after getting spooked by a tornado in WaKeeney, Kansas, last year. The license holder is Doug Terranova, Sacks said.
A booking agent for the circus, Rachael Bellman, said she was unaware of the incident, and a telephone message left with circus officials wasn't immediately returned.
Carpenter joked about being involved in such a bizarre accident on what is usually a peaceful church night.
"I don't know what was in the wine, but it must have been pretty strong," he said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/11/05/11647271-ap.html
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Ice skating bear kills Russian circus hand
Fri October 23, 2009
From Yuri Pushkin
CNN
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A bear on ice skates attacked two people during rehearsals at a circus in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing one of them, Kyrgyz officials said Friday.
In the incident, which happened Thursday, the 5-year-old animal killed the circus administrator, Dmitry Potapov, and mauled an animal trainer, who was attempting to rescue him.
"The incident occurred during a rehearsal by the Russian state circus company troupe which was performing in Bishkek with the program, Bears on Ice," Ministry of Culture and Information director Kurmangazy Isanayev told reporters.
It is unclear what caused the bear to attack Potapov, 25, nearly severing one of his legs while dragging him across the ice by his neck. Medical personnel were unable to save Potapov, who died at the scene.
The 29-year-old circus trainer Yevgeny Popov, who attempted to rescue Potapov, was also severely injured, according to doctors.
"The victim has sustained serious injuries - deep scalp lacerations, bruising of the brain, lacerations on his body. His condition is considered critical," Dr. Gulnara Tashibekova told reporters on Russian state television.
After the incident, the circus was cordoned off by police and emergency service workers. Experts have been brought in to examine the bear, which was shot and died at the scene.
Russia has a long-standing tradition of training bears to perform tricks such as riding motorcycles, ice skating, and playing hockey. Fatal attacks are unusual.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/23/russia.skating.bear.death/index.html
(Submitted by Chris Kraska)
From Yuri Pushkin
CNN
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A bear on ice skates attacked two people during rehearsals at a circus in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing one of them, Kyrgyz officials said Friday.
In the incident, which happened Thursday, the 5-year-old animal killed the circus administrator, Dmitry Potapov, and mauled an animal trainer, who was attempting to rescue him.
"The incident occurred during a rehearsal by the Russian state circus company troupe which was performing in Bishkek with the program, Bears on Ice," Ministry of Culture and Information director Kurmangazy Isanayev told reporters.
It is unclear what caused the bear to attack Potapov, 25, nearly severing one of his legs while dragging him across the ice by his neck. Medical personnel were unable to save Potapov, who died at the scene.
The 29-year-old circus trainer Yevgeny Popov, who attempted to rescue Potapov, was also severely injured, according to doctors.
"The victim has sustained serious injuries - deep scalp lacerations, bruising of the brain, lacerations on his body. His condition is considered critical," Dr. Gulnara Tashibekova told reporters on Russian state television.
After the incident, the circus was cordoned off by police and emergency service workers. Experts have been brought in to examine the bear, which was shot and died at the scene.
Russia has a long-standing tradition of training bears to perform tricks such as riding motorcycles, ice skating, and playing hockey. Fatal attacks are unusual.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/23/russia.skating.bear.death/index.html
(Submitted by Chris Kraska)
Ice skating bear kills Russian circus hand
Fri October 23, 2009
From Yuri Pushkin
CNN
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A bear on ice skates attacked two people during rehearsals at a circus in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing one of them, Kyrgyz officials said Friday.
In the incident, which happened Thursday, the 5-year-old animal killed the circus administrator, Dmitry Potapov, and mauled an animal trainer, who was attempting to rescue him.
"The incident occurred during a rehearsal by the Russian state circus company troupe which was performing in Bishkek with the program, Bears on Ice," Ministry of Culture and Information director Kurmangazy Isanayev told reporters.
It is unclear what caused the bear to attack Potapov, 25, nearly severing one of his legs while dragging him across the ice by his neck. Medical personnel were unable to save Potapov, who died at the scene.
The 29-year-old circus trainer Yevgeny Popov, who attempted to rescue Potapov, was also severely injured, according to doctors.
"The victim has sustained serious injuries - deep scalp lacerations, bruising of the brain, lacerations on his body. His condition is considered critical," Dr. Gulnara Tashibekova told reporters on Russian state television.
After the incident, the circus was cordoned off by police and emergency service workers. Experts have been brought in to examine the bear, which was shot and died at the scene.
Russia has a long-standing tradition of training bears to perform tricks such as riding motorcycles, ice skating, and playing hockey. Fatal attacks are unusual.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/23/russia.skating.bear.death/index.html
(Submitted by Chris Kraska)
From Yuri Pushkin
CNN
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A bear on ice skates attacked two people during rehearsals at a circus in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing one of them, Kyrgyz officials said Friday.
In the incident, which happened Thursday, the 5-year-old animal killed the circus administrator, Dmitry Potapov, and mauled an animal trainer, who was attempting to rescue him.
"The incident occurred during a rehearsal by the Russian state circus company troupe which was performing in Bishkek with the program, Bears on Ice," Ministry of Culture and Information director Kurmangazy Isanayev told reporters.
It is unclear what caused the bear to attack Potapov, 25, nearly severing one of his legs while dragging him across the ice by his neck. Medical personnel were unable to save Potapov, who died at the scene.
The 29-year-old circus trainer Yevgeny Popov, who attempted to rescue Potapov, was also severely injured, according to doctors.
"The victim has sustained serious injuries - deep scalp lacerations, bruising of the brain, lacerations on his body. His condition is considered critical," Dr. Gulnara Tashibekova told reporters on Russian state television.
After the incident, the circus was cordoned off by police and emergency service workers. Experts have been brought in to examine the bear, which was shot and died at the scene.
Russia has a long-standing tradition of training bears to perform tricks such as riding motorcycles, ice skating, and playing hockey. Fatal attacks are unusual.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/23/russia.skating.bear.death/index.html
(Submitted by Chris Kraska)
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Rogue monkey enticed by crisps and fizzy drinks
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
He spent six weeks on the lam from the circus, but Reggie the spider monkey has been captured with the help of junk food.
Reggie had performed for the Liebel Family Circus for years, but he escaped on March 13 when the troupe did a show at a central Florida flea market. A search for the monkey came up empty-handed.
He was spotted a few weeks ago in a nearby neighborhood, looking lonely and scared but otherwise healthy. But a dog frightened him away before residents there could attract him with some food.
Then on Monday, Reggie was seen hanging from a tree at a mobile home park. Neighbors fed him crisps and fizzy drinks until the circus owner Tom Liebel came to grab him.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Rogue_monkey_enticed_by_crisps_and_fizzy_drinks&in_article_id=630430&in_page_id=2
He spent six weeks on the lam from the circus, but Reggie the spider monkey has been captured with the help of junk food.
Reggie had performed for the Liebel Family Circus for years, but he escaped on March 13 when the troupe did a show at a central Florida flea market. A search for the monkey came up empty-handed.
He was spotted a few weeks ago in a nearby neighborhood, looking lonely and scared but otherwise healthy. But a dog frightened him away before residents there could attract him with some food.
Then on Monday, Reggie was seen hanging from a tree at a mobile home park. Neighbors fed him crisps and fizzy drinks until the circus owner Tom Liebel came to grab him.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Rogue_monkey_enticed_by_crisps_and_fizzy_drinks&in_article_id=630430&in_page_id=2
Friday, February 27, 2009
Circus slammed over elephant act
Elephants are making a controversial return to the big top in a show the RSPCA has branded a disgrace.Three will be performing at the Great British Circus in Nottinghamshire, ten years after the last circus performance by an elephant in the UK.
The animal charity said the planned return was a "body blow for animal welfare in this country".
It has called on the Government to ban wild animals from circuses and urged the public to think twice before going to the show.
The Great British Circus' website lauded their return, as well as boasting "the only white tiger in any British circus" would be making an appearance.
It said: "Two Asian and one African elephant rolled into town today, the first time for over ten years that a European elephant act has been brought to a circus in the UK."
It added: "Sonja, Delhi and Vana Mana look very content as they slurp their daily ration of 200 litres of water. Despite their size these three lovely ladies are very gentle creatures.
"You can see how clever they are at every show when the Great British Circus comes to your town."
The RSPCA's Dr Rob Atkinson said: "This is a body blow for animal welfare in this country.
"I am sure this news will shock and sadden the public which has consistently shown its opposition to the use of wild animals in circuses.
"Asking these majestic animals to behave in unnatural ways in the name of entertainment is a disgrace - a disgrace which is already banned in several other European countries.
"This has to be a wake-up call for the Government which pledged to ban certain species in circuses almost three years ago.
"The argument that the practice will die out naturally has now been shown to be null and void."
He added: "After all, how are we benefited as a nation for permitting tigers to leap through hoops and bears to ride bicycles?"
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/uk/circus+slammed+over+elephant+act/3003992
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Ringling Brothers faces allegations of elephant abuse
Animal rights groups allege that Ringling Bros. trainers chain Asian elephants together for 70 hours at a time and abuse them with long, hooked poles. The groups are suing under the Endangered Species Act.
Animal welfare groups say the treatment of Asian elephants violates the Endangered Species Act. The circus sees a 'crusade to eliminate animals from circuses, zoos and wildlife parks.
By Sarah Gantz
February 4, 2009
Reporting from Washington -- Tom Rider, who used to be a "barn man" for Ringling Bros., said that when he worked there in the late 1990s, he regularly saw handlers of the circus' endangered Asian elephants abusing the giant creatures.
He said they used long, sharp-hooked poles, "hitting them in the legs, hooking them behind the ears" and leaving gashes the size of his finger.
Witness against Ringling
Ringling denies the allegations, saying it has never been cited for animal cruelty. But today, a nearly 9-year-old legal case over the elephants' treatment will come to trial in U.S. District Court.
Using the Endangered Species Act instead of animal cruelty laws, Rider and several animal welfare groups will testify that Ringling abuses its elephants by using a hooked pole, sometimes called a bull hook, that the suit says punctures the animals' leathery hide where skin is most sensitive. The animal rights groups also allege that Ringling trainers chain the beasts together for 70 hours at a time.
But Michelle Pardo, a lawyer for Feld Entertainment Inc., which owns Ringling Bros., said the circus' elephants were "healthy, alert and thriving," and noted that the circus regularly passed federal, state and local inspections.
Pardo described the lawsuit as part of animal activists' "long-running crusade to eliminate animals from circuses, zoos and wildlife parks."
She said the circus' training practices were "the most safe, humane and effective tools to use with elephants in the circus." Without them, she said, there would be no way for handlers to manage the elephants.
Former Hollywood elephant trainer Pat Derby agreed that other methods were less effective.
"You cannot train an elephant without force or fear and have them perform consistently, all the time," Derby said. But she added that she ultimately quit her job training elephants for movies in 1982 because she could not bear the way they were mistreated during training sessions.
Derby, now president of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, a nonprofit animal welfare organization based in Northern California, practices training methods based on trust, cooperation and food rewards, which she said didn't always work.
Diana L. Guerrero, who has more than 30 years' experience training elephants at zoos, said positive reinforcement techniques like those employed by Derby took longer to teach. But this method has grown in popularity, she said, because it "makes the general public feel better about training."
Preference for a particular training method is "a matter of palatability," said Guerrero, of Big Bear Lake, who conducts seminars on animal training.
Much of the plaintiffs' case rests on the testimony of Rider, who described his responsibility as a barn man for Ringling between June 1997 and November 1999 in one sentence: "Never take your eyes off the elephants."
Rider said he never did -- and saw the elephants' handlers mistreating them.
Rider said that in one instance, he saw a trainer beat Karen, a particularly petulant elephant whom circus workers called "the Killer," for nearly half an hour while he and his co-workers looked on silently, fearing that if they asked the trainer to stop they would lose their jobs.
In addition to Rider's testimony, the plaintiffs will show videos and photographs that they say illustrate abuse of the elephants, Silverman said, as well as an e-mail sent to Ringling supervisors from one of the company's veterinarians that questions "multiple abrasions and lacerations from the hooks" found on four of the elephants after their baths one morning.
The plaintiffs' fight for humane treatment of Asian elephants focuses on Ringling's elephants, but they hope a ruling that the circus' practices are illegal would "send a message" to other organizations that use similar practices.
"Certainly it is a problem" at other circuses, Silverman said. "It's not just at Ringling Bros."
Pardo said Ringling was committed to caring for its elephants, both on the road and at its 200-acre conservation center in Florida, where a new addition to the Ringling family, baby Barack, was celebrated on the eve of the presidential inauguration last month.
Ringling spends more than $60,000 annually on each of its 54 elephants, which are attended to by a team of three full-time and two part-time veterinarians and other care specialists, Pardo said.
Animal welfare groups say the treatment of Asian elephants violates the Endangered Species Act. The circus sees a 'crusade to eliminate animals from circuses, zoos and wildlife parks.
By Sarah Gantz
February 4, 2009
Reporting from Washington -- Tom Rider, who used to be a "barn man" for Ringling Bros., said that when he worked there in the late 1990s, he regularly saw handlers of the circus' endangered Asian elephants abusing the giant creatures.
He said they used long, sharp-hooked poles, "hitting them in the legs, hooking them behind the ears" and leaving gashes the size of his finger.
Witness against Ringling
Ringling denies the allegations, saying it has never been cited for animal cruelty. But today, a nearly 9-year-old legal case over the elephants' treatment will come to trial in U.S. District Court.
Using the Endangered Species Act instead of animal cruelty laws, Rider and several animal welfare groups will testify that Ringling abuses its elephants by using a hooked pole, sometimes called a bull hook, that the suit says punctures the animals' leathery hide where skin is most sensitive. The animal rights groups also allege that Ringling trainers chain the beasts together for 70 hours at a time.
But Michelle Pardo, a lawyer for Feld Entertainment Inc., which owns Ringling Bros., said the circus' elephants were "healthy, alert and thriving," and noted that the circus regularly passed federal, state and local inspections.
Pardo described the lawsuit as part of animal activists' "long-running crusade to eliminate animals from circuses, zoos and wildlife parks."
She said the circus' training practices were "the most safe, humane and effective tools to use with elephants in the circus." Without them, she said, there would be no way for handlers to manage the elephants.
Former Hollywood elephant trainer Pat Derby agreed that other methods were less effective.
"You cannot train an elephant without force or fear and have them perform consistently, all the time," Derby said. But she added that she ultimately quit her job training elephants for movies in 1982 because she could not bear the way they were mistreated during training sessions.
Derby, now president of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, a nonprofit animal welfare organization based in Northern California, practices training methods based on trust, cooperation and food rewards, which she said didn't always work.
Diana L. Guerrero, who has more than 30 years' experience training elephants at zoos, said positive reinforcement techniques like those employed by Derby took longer to teach. But this method has grown in popularity, she said, because it "makes the general public feel better about training."
Preference for a particular training method is "a matter of palatability," said Guerrero, of Big Bear Lake, who conducts seminars on animal training.
Much of the plaintiffs' case rests on the testimony of Rider, who described his responsibility as a barn man for Ringling between June 1997 and November 1999 in one sentence: "Never take your eyes off the elephants."
Rider said he never did -- and saw the elephants' handlers mistreating them.
Rider said that in one instance, he saw a trainer beat Karen, a particularly petulant elephant whom circus workers called "the Killer," for nearly half an hour while he and his co-workers looked on silently, fearing that if they asked the trainer to stop they would lose their jobs.
In addition to Rider's testimony, the plaintiffs will show videos and photographs that they say illustrate abuse of the elephants, Silverman said, as well as an e-mail sent to Ringling supervisors from one of the company's veterinarians that questions "multiple abrasions and lacerations from the hooks" found on four of the elephants after their baths one morning.
The plaintiffs' fight for humane treatment of Asian elephants focuses on Ringling's elephants, but they hope a ruling that the circus' practices are illegal would "send a message" to other organizations that use similar practices.
"Certainly it is a problem" at other circuses, Silverman said. "It's not just at Ringling Bros."
Pardo said Ringling was committed to caring for its elephants, both on the road and at its 200-acre conservation center in Florida, where a new addition to the Ringling family, baby Barack, was celebrated on the eve of the presidential inauguration last month.
Ringling spends more than $60,000 annually on each of its 54 elephants, which are attended to by a team of three full-time and two part-time veterinarians and other care specialists, Pardo said.
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