Tyke was a 20-year-old African bush elephant who was captured in Mozambique as a baby and shipped to America to perform in circuses. In 1993, she escaped from a circus performance in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and caused $14,000 damage. Just months later, she broke free and ran amok in the North Dakota State Fair. While nobody – including Tyke – was harmed, things would take a much uglier turn the following year in Honolulu, Hawaii.
On the 20th of August, 1994, during a performance at Circus International which was held at the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Tyke burst into the area and kicked her groomer, Dallas Beckwith. Her trainer, Allen Campbell, rushed to intervene. Tyke threw him to the ground and stepped on his head, killing him instantly. Afterward, she ran out of the arena and onto the busy streets of Honolulu’s commercial district. After chasing Tyke through the city, police cornered the terrified animal and shot her 86 times until she fell to the ground. The photo capturing the moment depicts the evident terror and pain in Tyke’s eyes. As she lay on the ground, shaking with fear and covered in blood, local zoo officials gave her a lethal injection. When the lethal dose didn’t kill her, she was shot once again through the heart. Following her death, Tyke was loaded onto a flatbed truck and disposed of in Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Nanakuli.
Tyke became a symbol for animal rights and her death brought to the fore a debate about whether or not wild animals should be used for entertainment. Some tried to vilify her as a bad seed with a history of misbehavior while others said she had suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of his handler, causing her to snap. In fact, Allen Campbell had several complaints of animal abuse filed against him. Moreover, in 1988, Tyke was performing at the Tarzan Zerbini Circus when several passersby witnessed her old handler “beating the single-tusk African elephant in public to the point where the elephant was screaming and bending down on three legs to avoid being hit.”
In her tragic life and death, Tyke was treated as nothing more than an object and source of income. For years, she was rented out to circuses and shipped across the country and forced to perform “acts” for a paying crowd. When she arrived in Hawaii, Tyke had just had enough. She would perform one last show before doing the one thing she had never done in her short life – act like a wild elephant. The only redeeming factor in this horrid tale is that Tyke’s death inspired action worldwide. One example was the 1995 development of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, which is currently the world’s largest elephant sanctuary to provide a home for elephants retired from zoos and circuses – a place that Tyke would have thrived in if just given the chance. You can donate to the Elephant Sanctuary here.
Thankfully, since Tyke’s death, numerous countries have completely banned wild animal circuses meaning that many other animals will not live the same life and suffer the same fate as Tyke.
On the 20th of August, 1994, during a performance at Circus International which was held at the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Tyke burst into the area and kicked her groomer, Dallas Beckwith. Her trainer, Allen Campbell, rushed to intervene. Tyke threw him to the ground and stepped on his head, killing him instantly. Afterward, she ran out of the arena and onto the busy streets of Honolulu’s commercial district. After chasing Tyke through the city, police cornered the terrified animal and shot her 86 times until she fell to the ground. The photo capturing the moment depicts the evident terror and pain in Tyke’s eyes. As she lay on the ground, shaking with fear and covered in blood, local zoo officials gave her a lethal injection. When the lethal dose didn’t kill her, she was shot once again through the heart. Following her death, Tyke was loaded onto a flatbed truck and disposed of in Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Nanakuli.
Tyke became a symbol for animal rights and her death brought to the fore a debate about whether or not wild animals should be used for entertainment. Some tried to vilify her as a bad seed with a history of misbehavior while others said she had suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of his handler, causing her to snap. In fact, Allen Campbell had several complaints of animal abuse filed against him. Moreover, in 1988, Tyke was performing at the Tarzan Zerbini Circus when several passersby witnessed her old handler “beating the single-tusk African elephant in public to the point where the elephant was screaming and bending down on three legs to avoid being hit.”
In her tragic life and death, Tyke was treated as nothing more than an object and source of income. For years, she was rented out to circuses and shipped across the country and forced to perform “acts” for a paying crowd. When she arrived in Hawaii, Tyke had just had enough. She would perform one last show before doing the one thing she had never done in her short life – act like a wild elephant. The only redeeming factor in this horrid tale is that Tyke’s death inspired action worldwide. One example was the 1995 development of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, which is currently the world’s largest elephant sanctuary to provide a home for elephants retired from zoos and circuses – a place that Tyke would have thrived in if just given the chance. You can donate to the Elephant Sanctuary here.
Thankfully, since Tyke’s death, numerous countries have completely banned wild animal circuses meaning that many other animals will not live the same life and suffer the same fate as Tyke.
Tyke was a 20-year-old African bush elephant who was captured in Mozambique as a baby and shipped to America to perform in circuses. In 1993, she escaped from a circus performance in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and caused $14,000 damage. Just months later, she broke free and ran amok in the North Dakota State Fair. While nobody – including Tyke – was harmed, things would take a much uglier turn the following year in Honolulu, Hawaii.
On the 20th of August, 1994, during a performance at Circus International which was held at the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Tyke burst into the area and kicked her groomer, Dallas Beckwith. Her trainer, Allen Campbell, rushed to intervene. Tyke threw him to the ground and stepped on his head, killing him instantly. Afterward, she ran out of the arena and onto the busy streets of Honolulu’s commercial district. After chasing Tyke through the city, police cornered the terrified animal and shot her 86 times until she fell to the ground. The photo capturing the moment depicts the evident terror and pain in Tyke’s eyes. As she lay on the ground, shaking with fear and covered in blood, local zoo officials gave her a lethal injection. When the lethal dose didn’t kill her, she was shot once again through the heart. Following her death, Tyke was loaded onto a flatbed truck and disposed of in Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Nanakuli.
Tyke became a symbol for animal rights and her death brought to the fore a debate about whether or not wild animals should be used for entertainment. Some tried to vilify her as a bad seed with a history of misbehavior while others said she had suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of his handler, causing her to snap. In fact, Allen Campbell had several complaints of animal abuse filed against him. Moreover, in 1988, Tyke was performing at the Tarzan Zerbini Circus when several passersby witnessed her old handler “beating the single-tusk African elephant in public to the point where the elephant was screaming and bending down on three legs to avoid being hit.”
In her tragic life and death, Tyke was treated as nothing more than an object and source of income. For years, she was rented out to circuses and shipped across the country and forced to perform “acts” for a paying crowd. When she arrived in Hawaii, Tyke had just had enough. She would perform one last show before doing the one thing she had never done in her short life – act like a wild elephant. The only redeeming factor in this horrid tale is that Tyke’s death inspired action worldwide. One example was the 1995 development of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, which is currently the world’s largest elephant sanctuary to provide a home for elephants retired from zoos and circuses – a place that Tyke would have thrived in if just given the chance. You can donate to the Elephant Sanctuary here.
Thankfully, since Tyke’s death, numerous countries have completely banned wild animal circuses meaning that many other animals will not live the same life and suffer the same fate as Tyke.
On the 20th of August, 1994, during a performance at Circus International which was held at the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Tyke burst into the area and kicked her groomer, Dallas Beckwith. Her trainer, Allen Campbell, rushed to intervene. Tyke threw him to the ground and stepped on his head, killing him instantly. Afterward, she ran out of the arena and onto the busy streets of Honolulu’s commercial district. After chasing Tyke through the city, police cornered the terrified animal and shot her 86 times until she fell to the ground. The photo capturing the moment depicts the evident terror and pain in Tyke’s eyes. As she lay on the ground, shaking with fear and covered in blood, local zoo officials gave her a lethal injection. When the lethal dose didn’t kill her, she was shot once again through the heart. Following her death, Tyke was loaded onto a flatbed truck and disposed of in Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Nanakuli.
Tyke became a symbol for animal rights and her death brought to the fore a debate about whether or not wild animals should be used for entertainment. Some tried to vilify her as a bad seed with a history of misbehavior while others said she had suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of his handler, causing her to snap. In fact, Allen Campbell had several complaints of animal abuse filed against him. Moreover, in 1988, Tyke was performing at the Tarzan Zerbini Circus when several passersby witnessed her old handler “beating the single-tusk African elephant in public to the point where the elephant was screaming and bending down on three legs to avoid being hit.”
In her tragic life and death, Tyke was treated as nothing more than an object and source of income. For years, she was rented out to circuses and shipped across the country and forced to perform “acts” for a paying crowd. When she arrived in Hawaii, Tyke had just had enough. She would perform one last show before doing the one thing she had never done in her short life – act like a wild elephant. The only redeeming factor in this horrid tale is that Tyke’s death inspired action worldwide. One example was the 1995 development of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, which is currently the world’s largest elephant sanctuary to provide a home for elephants retired from zoos and circuses – a place that Tyke would have thrived in if just given the chance. You can donate to the Elephant Sanctuary here.
Thankfully, since Tyke’s death, numerous countries have completely banned wild animal circuses meaning that many other animals will not live the same life and suffer the same fate as Tyke.
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