Escaped Circus Elephant Stops Traffic in Montana
Imagine driving down the road when suddenly you see an elephant coming at you. That was reality for residents in Butte, Montana on Tuesday, April 16th. The circus was in town, and an elephant escaped, stopping traffic as he roamed down the street. Where he was headed is unknown, but he didn't seem to realize that he was in the commuters' way!
ABC News shared the short video that one driver recorded on their cell phone. The elephant can be seen crossing the highway as everybody stopped to watch. It didn't seem afraid or agitated and was probably just confused. Towards the end, a man is seen chasing the elephant. We don't know who he was (the handler or someone trying to help?) but the elephant was stopping for no man!
Could you even imagine this happening?! My question is how did nobody realize that the elephant was missing? Did they not see it walk away? It would be hard to miss! ABC News commenters were mostly glad to see the elephant was free and away from the circus. @Dennis4700 wondered, "How in the h*ll are animals in circuses still legal? Wow." and @Tiffany Blakeslee added, "Circus elephant. I thought that was no longer a thing."
Related: Watch: Elephant Charges Safari Truck Full of Tourists in South Africa
Facts About Circus Elephants
Sadly, these highly intelligent animals are still kept for entertainment purposes in traveling circuses. The National Humane Society shares the truth about how some of these animals are forced to live, "Animals in the circus are often subjected to confinement, unnatural living conditions, and coercive training methods. Species such as elephants, big cats, primates, and marine mammals are typically forced to perform unnatural behaviors through physical punishment and fear-based training techniques. The constant travel, cramped quarters, and lack of mental and physical stimulation can lead to significant stress, behavioral issues, and compromised welfare." And yet, people still pay to see these circus animals perform.
I did some digging to see what I could find about the history of circus elephants and found some interesting facts at Mind Floss. We've all heard that elephants are afraid of mice, but that's not necessarily true. "Early circus elephants learned to be terrified of scurrying rodents. Their feet and tails would regularly get chewed on by rats during the night." Yuck! No wonder why they were afraid of them!
Elephants of the past (and still today) killed their trainers. "Male elephants go through a months-long hormonal change called musth, during which they produce up to 60 times more testosterone than usual and become extremely aggressive, and early elephant trainers were unprepared for dealing with the giant animals’ behavioral volatility." They go on to say, "Bullets are no match for their thick skin, so there was often no way to stop the unpredictable violence". That would be terrifying!
I remember going to the circus as a kid, and even getting to ride on an elephant's back. I know not all circuses treat their animals poorly, but the older I get, the less humane it seems. My kids have never been to a circus and probably never will unless they choose to visit one - even after all the reasons I've told them not to go.
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