What a circus.
On Tuesday, a once-in-a-lifetime show was held in the Montana city. A show elephant broke out of its enclosure and destroyed a busy street.
A thrilling video shows the gentle giant roaring down Harrison Street in Butte around noon, seemingly oblivious to the line of cars driving cautiously in each direction.
As a man with a stick tries desperately to corral the elephant, the elephant merrily crosses the road in the designated right-turn lane, even if it’s in the opposite direction.
different angle, Captured at a local gas stationHere we show an elephant passing through a casino parking lot and heading straight down a residential street. They strut quietly, as if they were taking a normal afternoon walk.
It turns out the elephant, affectionately known as Viola, was in town as part of the Jordan World Circus.
Her handler was giving her a bath outside the Civic Center when the car backfired and scared her, venue manager Bill Melvin said. told the Daily Montanan.
She took off, but after only a few hundred meters she stopped to munch on grass in a neighbor’s garden. The pursuit lasted approximately 10 minutes.
Fortunately, no one was injured and the 58-year-old elephant was returned to its circus family.
“Of course the circus was very professional and they had a professional trainer, but he was really calm and the animals were calm, so they were able to get her back quickly,” Melvin said. Ta.
“It wasn’t as dramatic as you think.”
Even the brief escape did not derail the performance. Jordan World Circus ran its 4pm and 7pm shows without a hitch.
However, not everyone found this incident appealing.
Animal rights groups PETA and PAWS issued separate statements saying the escape was not Viola’s first attempt at freedom.
“Viola is left desperately seeking freedom after decades of abuse and involuntary servitude at the hands of the Carson and Barnes Circus. As a result, Viola is forced to perform grueling and painful acts. He was captured on video administering electric shocks to elephants and beating them with sharp-tipped steel bullhooks.”, PETA said in a statement.
PETA also said Carson and Burns Circus, which supplied elephants to the Jordan World Circus, has a history of forcing elephants to undergo grueling exercise and has been cited for more than 100 violations of federal animal welfare laws. He claimed that there was.
Neither circus group immediately responded to The Post’s requests for comment.
