From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Tyke" (1974 – August 20, 1994)[1]
was a female circus elephant who on August 20,
1994 in Honolulu, Hawaii, killed her trainer, Allen Campbell,
and gored her groomer 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.
Since she was performing at the time, the majority of Tyke's
attack was caught on tape including the famous video image of the
elephant attacking publicist Steve Hirano outside
of the event. Video footage is available from PETA.[2]
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 school children had to leave the building as it was
evacuated, and the rampage caused more than $14,000 in damage.[1]
- 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.[1]
- 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]
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. Honolulu trial lawyer William
Fenton Sink successfully sued Cuneo on behalf of numerous
plaintiffs, including young children, who suffered psychological
injuries after witnessing Tyke's killing. The suits were settled
out of court and the amounts were never made public. Based on Mr.
Sink's work in the Tyke case, Animal Rights Hawaii renamed its
prestigious Order of the Innocent award to The William Fenton Sink
Award for Defense of Animals in honor of his work.[4]
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