Enraged Elephant Attacks Zookeeper
An enraged elephant, depressed and aggressive since watching her newborn calf die two months ago, attacked a zookeeper, breaking his collarbone and four ribs, the zoo said.
“It was like a bolt of lightning, it all happened so fast,” Red Bayer, assistant manager of the Houston Zoological Gardens, said.
Indu, a four-ton Asian elephant who has had trouble bearing healthy offspring, refused to obey commands and shoved her way into a small enclosure with another female elephant, Methai, and her 5-month-old calf, Bayer said.
She slammed Methai into a fence. When the elephant trainer, a 40-year-old man who was not identified, yelled at her to stop, she charged him, slammed him into a fence and butted him with her head, Bayer said. A second worker distracted the elephant, allowing the injured man to escape.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.