Elephant’s Run-In With Keeper Called Accident

While a Los Angeles Zoo animal keeper was back home nursing three broken ribs and a smashed collarbone Sunday, the five-ton Asian elephant that stepped on him during training a day earlier was back on display.

Ronald Rotter, 27, of Huntington Beach, was said to be “in good spirits” after being knocked down Saturday by a female elephant named Calle as horrified zoo visitors watched. Colleagues said Rotter is eager to get back to work, but he did not respond to requests to comment publicly on his run-in with Calle.

Zookeepers were downplaying the incident, saying it appeared that Calle had slipped in a wet spot in her pen and stumbled onto Rotter.

“She certainly didn’t behave aggressively,” said Susie Kasielke, the principal zookeeper.

“Once that occurred and Ron was on the ground, Shirley [Richardson, another keeper] gave her the command to get away from him, and she did. If Calle had been in the process of attacking Ron violently, no command that Shirley would have given her would have had any effect.”

Calle seemed testy late Sunday afternoon after having spent the day being gawked at by zoo visitors and videotaped by hordes of TV camera crews.

She plodded through regular training exercises Sunday with nary a hitch, and even stayed on view outside the barn as the other two elephants went inside for the evening.

But as one last journalist shot repeated flash pictures of her, the 30-year-old elephant tossed an egg-sized rock at his head, then threw a clod of dirt.

“She’s being rude, just like an 8-year-old child,” Kasielke said, adding that the behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.

Zookeepers are still trying to piece together exactly what happened Saturday.

“The keepers work the animals on a daily basis, to provide them with exercise and with mental stimulation,” Kasielke said. “They’re very social animals and they’re highly intelligent.”

The L.A. Zoo elephants are trained to follow simple orders such as “come here” and “back up,” and to lift their feet on command so their footpads can be trimmed, Kasielke said.

As Richardson walked Calle through her exercises, Rotter entered the pen to hand Richardson her keys, Kasielke said.

Witnesses said it appeared that the animal became startled when Rotter approached her and that she charged him, knocking him down.

But Kasielke said interviews with four trainers who were in the area at the time indicate that it may have been an accident. As Rotter turned to leave the yard, Calle--who suffers from painful arthritis in her forelegs--apparently “slipped on a wet spot in the yard,” Kasielke said.

“As she lost her balance, she may have panicked a little bit, and somehow the two collided,” Kasielke said. “The whole thing was over in a couple of seconds. The handler gave her a command to move away from him, and she did immediately.”

Rotter was able to crawl away and eventually got to his feet. The keeper--who was in training to become an elephant trainer--was placed on leave pending recovery from his injuries.

“They immediately got Ron out of the enclosure, and they left the enclosure, too,” Kasielke said. “And she was very responsive on her routine this morning. At this point, it looks like it was simply an accident.”

Rotter was treated and released at Glendale Memorial Hospital, she said.

Kasielke said that it is extremely rare for an elephant such as Calle to be thrown off-balance, but added that no procedures have been changed in the wake of the incident.

“It looks like everybody did exactly what they should have done,” she said. “Ron wasn’t anywhere he shouldn’t have been.”

As for the possibility that Calle meant to attack Rotter, Kasielke said: “Usually, elephants that have a very violent episode . . . show a pattern of that behavior, and that’s not something we’ve seen with her.”

The zoo acquired Calle about two years ago from a private collection, and she has never caused trouble, Kasielke said.

Zoo-goers seemed nonchalant about their encounters Sunday with Calle and the other elephants.

“They were real calm,” said Meranda De La O, who visited the elephants with her boyfriend and kid sister. “I just feel bad for the guy.”

Times staff writer Shawn Hubler and correspondent Jeff Kass contributed to this report.