A circus
elephant in Germany has run wild after escaping the circus and has killed a
65-year-old man on the streets of Buchen. The police are investigating whether
someone let the elephant out of its tent.
Deutsche Welle, 13 June 2015
An elephant
that escaped from a circus killed a 65-year-old man in southwestern German city
of Buchen.
A nearby
resident who observed the incident called the police.
The victim
was on an early morning walk around 5:30 a.m. collecting bottles and cans,
police said.
The man's
wife went looking for him when he did not return from his walk at his usual
time. She noticed several police cars near the circus tents and, when she got
closer, she saw the body of her husband.
According
to the German news agency, DPA, it remains unclear how the animal escaped its
confines in the Luna Circus and what may have led to the man's death.
"The
elephant cannot have let himself out. So the question is: Did someone let him
out, or was the cage not properly locked?" a police spokesman told DPA.
Police said
they were also investigating why the animal acted aggressively toward the man.
A circus
employee was later able to calm the 34-year-old female elephant, called Baby,
and return her to the tent.
Past record
of aggression
According
to media reports, Stefan Frank, the junior boss of the circus regularly took
Baby for walks outside in the recent years. The animal was also said to have
broken out many times.
It was not
the first time that the elephant injured people. In September 2010, it
catapulted a man into the air and badly injured him.
In October
2012, the elephant beat a 12-year-old boy with its trunk and broke his jaw.
The Circus
Luna has come under criticism by the local veterinary office over alleged poor
housing conditions. In March, the animal rights organization PETA accused the
circus of housing an elephant in a truck which was not sufficiently heated.
ra/rc (dpa, AP)
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