Ben, Now that you are home, you may want to think about getting in the elephant business. I am seriously thinking of getting back into it. Elephants seem to have gotten easier to work with in recent times. When I started with them, they would slug, sap, slough, down and brown, waller you, head stand you, and if all else failed, a deal called a tap dance in an effort to annihilate you. The keeper who was pushed into a wall by an elephant at the Calgary Zoo likely didn't see it coming, zoo staff said Monday. Brent Van Hooft, who has been working with elephants for the past 20 years and been a keeper at the zoo since the 1970s, was cleaning the animal closure when Swarna, a 34-year-old female Asian elephant, came up behind him Sunday afternoon. "Apparently he had his back turned and she pushed him or bumped him, and he fell into the wall and struck his head," said Grahame Newton, the zoo's director of corporate services. On the ground and with the potentially agitated Swarna standing over him, Van Hooft had the presence of mind to pull himself into a corner where the elephant couldn't reach. The force of being pushed into the concrete wall left Van Hooft with minor chest injuries, cuts and bruises to his face and possibly a broken nose.
Now day's it seems like they only bump, nudge, or jostle. If it does end up bad, it is because they accidentally slipped and fell on you , in an effort to re balance you after they accidentally ran into you, in their exuberant effort to get the cookie.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Elephants seem to have become candy ass the last 15-20 years
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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8 comments:
This one is priceless....She bumped him,I think the term is squashed him into the wall....All kidding aside,I hope he is ok.
Margaret,
He can thank his lucky stars she didn't try to catch him, and lose her balance!!! You will also note that she was "apparently agitated." Back in the day, there was no "apparent" about it. You were pretty much sure they were "agitated." And you became aware of that valuable piece of insight, a nano second before your body "lifted off", and became airborne.
I hope people quite trying to convince me how much the "other side" twists/spins their stories.
Wade
Dear Wade, I've been that guy. The very first time I worked elephants I got slapped so hard I thought I'd been hit by a bus. My co-worker thought it was amusing. That was only the first of several hilarious incidents over the years that have included busted ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a BITE from an elephant that left me unable to use my right hand for a month. Granted these are all candy-assed injuries compared to three days on a ventilator after a particularly bad venomous snake bite... but I never felt that snakes were out to get me. Why do I think bullhooks are humane? Mostly because after a couple elephants thought it would be great fun to crush me I learned that swinging an old fashioned garden rake like a baseball bat was more effective than a wimpy little bullhook. I've never had any desire to be an elephant guy. Every single time I've ever "filled in" because yes, I can load them, or yes, I can put a chain on -- the next words out of somebody's mouth will be, "But watch out for that one, she's sneaky." That leads to the whole issue of why do I have a hotshot in my back pocket, and I don't want to go there.
I'm confused...I thought that Calgary used PC with most elephants... Then again I don't see why this is a news story...
Ben
A few words on "the other side." In fairness circuses in particular don't want to talked about elephants as potentially dangerous because circuses believe that any risk is well managed. And it's true. 200 years of elephants in America and number of "civilians" injured by circus elephants is pretty small -- it's elephant grooms who collect scars. Activists point to the rare cases of things gone terribly wrong. Things have indeed improved -- really bad elephants aren't on the road.
But the activists aren't entirely honest either in their day to day elephant dealings. The young woman killed in TN two years ago had no business being inside an enclosure with a notoriously "bad" elephant. If you're going to claim that elephants are "dangerous" what the hell are you doing trying to work on a notoriously dangerous animal in a free contact setting? It can't work both ways. Bad elephants are bad, good ones are a pleasure, and the vast majority probably fall in the middle and need to be well managed before bumping and slapping become a habit.
Ben,
I think the "ugliest" thing in the world is to see an elephant try to bite somebody. I also suggest, it is no where near just the grooms. If they are not "qualified" they should not be near something with a reputation, for any reason. The bad one's that were removed were not removed, by any false sense of public safety. There was always somebody who could "handle them." They were forced to be removed by public outcry. New York state has a ban on elephant rides, and a well know Circus producer, is not allowed to bring his show into the state for one year, because he chose to disregard that ban, and did elephant rides anyway.
Again, it is not the hook that is inhumane, it is the individual using the hook. Like spurs for a horse trainer, a meat stick for a tiger trainer, or a gun on the hip of a police officer. I also suggest if there is a need for a hot shot in the hip pocket, so that it is not obvious, or maybe for quick access to, that that animal should be in protected contact, and not loose around the public. Yes, Calgary is a PC facility, and apparently she "bumped" him through the bars. She also has a baby and may have felt that this gentleman who had been caring for here for over 20 years was a threat, if that is an exceptable patch.
I think it is relevant news lest we forget what they are, with all this bumping, slipping, and nudging going on. Yes, the girl in Tenn. was wrong, but their belief was that they were harmless. I know another industry that feels the same way many times. And that record of few injuries being small has historically at times been buried in another direction.
Wade
Damn. I hate to find myself trying to defend certain circus producers... The law in NY State isn't a ride ban, it's a contact ban. It sat on the books for years with no enforcement -- until late last summer. Did the circus producer intentionally violate the law at a shrine date this winter? Yep. With the active encouragement of the Shiners. Cartain parties in NY were convinced that the enforcement effort was going to be selective. The State wouldn't dare mess with certain sponsors in certain legislative districts represented by powerful Republican State Senators. This wasn't a position dreamed up by circus owners, it came from sponsors and people with political ties. Hard to say whether they guessed "wrong" or got exactly what they wanted -- since there seems to be growing pressure to lift the contact ban.
I don't think every elephant that ever slapped somebody belongs in PC. If we're going to alibi the Calgary elephant because she had a calf, I think we can alibi some other things too. "Handler error" first and foremost. I think we all know people who have gotten hit when they failed to warn a sleeping/resting elephant that they were approaching. Sometimes it's a reflexive defensive behavior, not hostility per se.
There's probably a public safety/personal safety line that needs to be drawn somewhere. This we can do with this animal in this setting because the only person at risk is the handler -- who is aware of the potential danger. This we can't do with this animal because the public is involved. For example, I'm guess there might be cats you have worked who were more than willing to draw blood given the chance. You continued to use them because you were aware of any risk, felt it could be managed, and it was your choice. But you might not have selected that animal for somebody else to work because they lacked the experience or the where-with-all to intelligently assume that risk.
Ben
Ben,
Yes, he did know of the "no contact" ruling, come on. But many producers in the not so distant past, have had the same mindset, "Nobody is going to tell me what to do, I have done it for years." And that's close to home Ben, and I will not defend it in any way, regardless of whether somebody else told you to do it. If you don't like the speed, you elect officials who will set it at the speed you think is right. You don't disregard the current speed limit, regardless of how ridiculous you think it is.
I personally have never heard of, or been aware of somebody getting hit, by surprising a sleeping/resting elephant.
In the case of a caged animal, the public is not at risk, only the individual inside. And I have had animals like that, one rather famous one. I sure didn't want to keep him each time I returned when he had damaged somebody. But again Ben, until there is some "standard" set on who or what is "qualified", and salaries adjusted accordingly, it will continue to be who wants the job next. The public is not given that option, and I suggest they have started to take matters into their own hands. The responsibility for actions has to come from within and not handed off to others or their actions. I have been told, since I was a child, "only you can change yourself, but first you have to accept something is wrong."
Wade
Addendum to Ben,
I am sure I hate to defend that type of action as much as you do, Ben. That's why I won't any more. I didn't see it changing or helping that I was defending. I have just resigned my self to a point of looking at both sides with a love for two different lives.
With Respect,
Wade
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