The Life and
Death of Tyke

Tyke - Her miserable life and her agonizing death
"Years after her rampage in Honolulu the topic of Tyke remains taboo within the secretive America circus industry. More than any other incident of its kind, Tyke polarized the debate over wild performing animals and heightened the industry’s hostility towards the animal rights movement. In the course of our research, the mere mention of Tyke’s name was often enough to get doors slammed in our faces."
BBC

Remembering Tyke - 30 years on...
   On the Anniversary of Tyke’s Death.
   30 years ago, a circus elephant...in Honolulu was killed.

"It’s no surprise that these animals lash out. Circuses use violence, intimidation, and extreme confinement to force elephants to perform inane tricks. These cruel training techniques are used to break elephants' spirits when they're only babies, and they mark the beginning of a life in which everything that is natural and important to these sensitive, intelligent animals is taken away from them."
Mail. 20 August 2014.

"Captured from Mozambique as a baby in 1973, Tyke the elephant was trained as a circus animal from an early age. Shipped to the United States, Tyke was quickly sold off to the Hawthorn Corporation — a company that supplied animals to circuses. Sadly, she then endured years of abuse by her handlers. But it was only a matter of time before she fought back."
ATI. 4 May 2021.

"She was only twenty years old. After the incident in Hawaii, Tyke unsurprisingly became emblematic of circus tragedies and a symbol of animal rights. This tragic incident should have spelled the end to the use of wild animals in circuses, but there was no such legacy. Almost 25 years on, as always, nothing has changed, and circus elephants and other wild animal species are still being used around the world and often going “rogue” as many people like to call it."
AR&W. 28 March 2023.

Introduction

   I only became aware of the short, sad life and brutal, bloody death of Tyke after the BBC broadcast the documentary 'Tyke: Elephant Outlaw' in the summer of 2015. The official trailer for ''Tyke Elephant Outlaw' is here, and the film is apparently still available to rent or purchase. I strongly recommend viewing.
   According to Stefan Moore, who produced the documentary, the baby elephant who became known as Tyke, witnessed the slaughter of her family in her native Mozambique and then (in 1973) transported to America. At some point she became the possession of Hawthorn Corporation (HC) who rented out elephants to circuses. Moore's documentary gives valuable information about the training of elephants for the circus while they were with the HC.

USDA and Canadian law enforcement papers state that in 1988, 'while a Hawthorn elephant named Tyke was performing with Tarzan Zerbini Circus, “The elephant handler was observed 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. Even when the handler walked by the elephant after this, the elephant screamed and veered away, demonstrating fear from his presence".'[i]

   When she was not in the HC compound, she was rented out to circuses which involved being shipped or transported about the country and then have to perform 'acts' for people who had paid to see this pathetic behaviour which they found 'entertaining'.
   After over twenty years of this, Tyke arrived in Hawaii in August 1994 and the documentary shows footage of her looking downcast. There is wide disagreement about the cognitive abilities of animals, but as the links dealing with 'The social life and intelligence of elephants' on this site confirm, elephants are not only intelligent, but extremely intelligent, and it is reasonable to consider that on arriving in Honolulu, she had simply 'had enough'. She would in fact never leave the island and only days later, her bullet-ridden body would be dumped in the local landfill. On 20 August 1994, the last date of the circus in Honolulu, she decided that she would end her misery.
   She had made two earlier attempts to escape this misery. On 21/22 April 1993, she escaped from Altoona, Pennsylvania Jaffa Shrine Center. She was recaptured after causing over $14,000 in damage. On 23 July 1993, she attempted to escape from the North Dakota State Fair in Minot (North Dakota), although she was soon recaptured.
   On August 20, 1994, during a performance at Circus International in Honolulu, Hawaii, Tyke trampled and critically injured her groomer, Dallas Beckwith, throwing him around numerous times in the process, before killing her trainer, Allen Campbell, who was knocked to the ground, dragged and crushed to death under Tyke's massive trunk after he attempted to save Beckwith from being trampled to death during the attack. She then charged out of the arena and onto the streets outside in an attempt to find freedom and refuge anywhere far from humans. She additionally attacked and nearly crushed publicist Steve Hirano, who tried to stop her from escaping from the circus' parking lot. A nearby police officer seeing the attack fired multiple shots in the direction of the elephant, distracting her and causing her to flee away from Hirano. After a half-hour of chasing Tyke down, local police officers fired 86 (or 87) shots at the elephant. Tyke finally collapsed from the numerous wounds and died, having suffered incalculable and inconceivable pain, blood loss, and organ destruction, including to her eyes.
   A photo of a bloody Tyke being shot by a Honolulu police officer, with a high-powered rifle, appeared in the front matter of every book written by animal welfare advocate Les Golden. His August, 2021, letter to the Chicago Tribune to "remember Tyke" was not published...

It is worth remembering that, as CAPS remarks, 'The documentary...shows that in fact Tyke had [already] broken free and caused havoc twice, less than two years before this final tragedy, and that no less than three ex employees had warned that Tyke should not be performing in a circus..'. It adds:
'Ex employee Sally Joseph (elephant handler and compound manager), talks about the appalling attitudes of fellow handlers, describing it as a testosterone fuelled, macho environment with pride taken in being able to beat up a grown elephant. She states that elephants were routinely beaten until they screamed and gave in to their handlers will, the prevailing theory being: “as long as they are afraid of you they’re not going to do anything to you”.
Joseph outlines the conditions of the winter compound: ‘the elephants were lined up and chained in a barn for 22 hours a day’ (the two hours out of chains is practice time). Joseph describes Tyke as being unhappy in captivity and forced to perform, and having always been problematic, which resulted in more ‘discipline’. Another ex employee, Tyrone Taylor (Tykes handler prior to the deceased one), also talks about Tyke’s unhappiness, and how when he first began to work with her she...always fearfully expecting some sort of discipline.
Both employees had warned that Tyke should not be forced to perform, both were ignored. Sally explains that it was more important to the owners to uphold a contract than it was to consider either Tyke’s well being or public safety. Throughout, the documentary shows the humiliating acts that elephants are forced to perform, images of the winter compound and undercover footage of various circuses brutally beating elephants.
Tyke’s final day was preceded by four days confined on a ship traveling to yet another performance, 21 years of captivity, a humiliating life of performing, being beaten, chained and denied the simple act of behaving like an elephant. CAPS believe there can be little mystery as to what motivated her to escape'.[ii]

   The extent of using fear in training is described in numerous internet articles written by eye-witnesses. One report refers to two ex-employees of another circus witnessing 'a violent 30-minute beating'. This involved 'at one point,a man after inserting a bullhook inside the elephant’s ear canal', He proceeded to yank with full force; the elephant cried out in agony'. The witnesses 'also saw elephants urinating, defecating, and trumpeting in fear at the sound of trainers’ voices'. The report goes on to say that for Tyke, 'fear had to end' and

'Psychologically tortured for far too long, the gentle giant finally said, “Enough”. Enough'.[iii]

Tyke's 'legacy'
   Some argue that Tyke left a 'legacy' and/or her death produced an obvious 'knock-on effect' on those who were involved in her life or death.
   [1]After Tyke was killed by Hawaiian police, efforts began to remove elephants from HC and this was completed in 2007.
   The reader is strongly encouraged to the document that details 'incidents' involving elephants in North America up to 2024. Also a list of USDA failings in respect of circuses. Considering the reported situation, some might find the USDA's behaviour to be highly unimpressive. Nonetheless, after some years, all the elephants held with HC were removed to sanctuaries - somewhere that Tyke would have surely thrived if she had not found it necessary to try and escape - and be killed for doing so.

   [2]Following her death, it was reported that a number of people or parties involved with Tyke and/or the circus faced lawsuits: these were filed against the City of Honolulu, the State of Hawaii, the circus, and Tyke's owner.[iv]

   [3]Media reports state that the autopsy of Tyke's handler, Allen Campbell. showed he 'had cocaine and alcohol in his system at the time he died'. Furthermore, he had a history of cruelty to elephants: 'Four years before that, he was fired from a job at the Denver Zoo after fellow employees accused him of abusing elephants'.[v]
Even on his FindAGrave memorial page, it mentions the cocaine and alcohol in his system, and how complaints had been made about his abuse of animals.

   [4]Steve Hirano appears in the video clips shown of Tyke's escape. He attempts to stop an 8000lb Tyke from escaping by closing a gate on a fenced area parking lot only to be knocked aside by her. Hirano was in fact a keen supporter of the circus and is called 'the circus promoter'. It is reported that 'Hirano fought to keep the circus coming to Honolulu. He...testified against a City Council bill to prohibit exotic animals from traveling exhibits, parades or circuses'.
   This individual died in 2003, aged only 57, 'less than two months after learning he had pancreatic cancer'.[vi]

   [5]The landfill site where Tyke's body was dumped in 1994 and left to rot, has experienced a range of problems since that date, e.g.,
2010: 'Waimanalo Gulch operators contest fine despite leniency of DOH'.
2011: 'EPA Cites Violations at Waimanalo Gulch'.
2012: 'Fight over Waimanalo Gulch Landfill brewing'.

   [6]It is suggested that Tyke's death played some part in some countries deciding to ban wild animal circuses. The countries that have some form of ban are listed here. In a number of countries there has been a complete ban of wild animal circuses. Because of these bans, many other animals will not have the type of life, and death, that Tyke suffered.

   [7]It is surely reasonable to assume all circuses with wild animals include a member of staff with some basic veterinary qualifications and for the circus to possess a tranquilizer device suitable for use on any of its animals if the need arises, and a lethal injection, again, suitable for use on any of its animals if the need arises. However, the circus did not possess a lethal injection and the Hawaiian authorities had to summon an official from the local zoo. whose attempts to put Tyke out of her misery failed and made it necessary for a police officer to obtain a high powered rifle (apparently from a local auto shop) to kill Tyke as she lay in the street, having collapsed from the 80+ bullets fired into her by the police. It has been pointed out that if a tranquiliser had been used, it would have taken some 30 minutes to haven taken effect.
   In the case of weaponry, the police only had low powered weapons and also had no idea about which parts of Tyke's body to fire at in order to kill her/put her out of her misery. It has been pointed that the only drug that would have stopped Tyke is Carfentinil, a potent opioid providing rapid immobilization, suitable for use on large animals (having a quantitative potency of about 10,000 times that of morphine), but the Honolulu Zoo did not have this.
   Some will find it truly extraordinary that the island authorities were content to have the circus, and Tyke, visiting, but did not have any suitable equipment to hand that would promptly deal with a wild animal escaping from the circus. There will surely also be amazement that Tyke, who had reacted forcefully on three occasions during the previous year, continued to be used in circuses where the public were present.

"Tyke charged out of the arena and onto the streets outside in an attempt to find freedom and refuge anywhere far from humans... A nearby police officer seeing the attack fired multiple shots in the direction of the elephant, distracting her and causing her to flee away from Hirano. After a half-hour of chasing Tyke down, local police officers fired 86 shots at the Template:Convert elephant. Tyke finally collapsed from the numerous wounds and died, having suffered incalculable and inconceivable pain, blood loss, and organ destruction, including to her eyes...
Despite Tyke's attempts to escape her abusers on other occasions, "seeking the freedom and joy that had been denied her for profit, no one came forward on her behalf, to send her to an elephant sanctuary. The humans simply let her suffer at the hands of circus miscreants who took out their life’s failures on a beautiful helpless creature."[vii]

   [8]This is not the first time a circus elephant in America has reacted against their imprisonment and handling, and kill someone which resulted in a slow and painful death. In 1916, Charlie Sparks' circus arrived in Kingsport, Tennessee, and this included an elephant called Mary. She was in agony with an abscess in her mouth. While walking in the circus, she stopped to nibble on some discarded watermelon rind and her trainer jabbed her where she was in pain. She responded by knocking him and stamping on and killing him. For this, the locals decided Mary had to die.
"The only question was how Mary should meet her end. Bullets had already proved ineffective and neither was poison likely to work...Some people advocated crushing Mary slowly between two opposing railway engines. Others called for her head to be tied to one locomotive and her legs to another so that she would be dismembered alive as they set off in opposite directions. Another option was electrocution... [Electricity] had reached rural Tennessee by 1916, but not with sufficient power to dispatch an elephant, so Charlie Sparks came up with the equally sensational idea of hanging Mary.
As a chain was placed around her neck at the ‘gallows’...[the other elephants] trumpeted mournfully to her and Sparks feared that she might try to run away. Her shrieks were heard over the crowd's cheers. To stop this happening, one of her legs was tethered to a rail. No one thought to release it as the crane whirred into action and, as she was hoisted into the air, there was an awful cracking noise, the sound of her bones and ligaments snapping under the strain. She had been raised no more than five feet when the chain around her neck broke, dropping her to the ground and breaking her hip.
‘It made a right smart little racket,’ recalled one of the crowd which was some 3,000-strong and included most of the town’s children. The onlookers panicked and ran for cover, but Mary simply sat there dazed and in terrible pain. Meanwhile, one of the circus hands ran up her back — as if climbing a small hill rather than a living creature — and attached a stronger chain. The winch was powered up again and this time Mary was raised high in the air, her thick legs thrashing and her agonised shrieks and grunts audible even over the laughter and cheers of those watching below. Finally she fell silent and hung there for half an hour before a local vet declared her dead."[viii]
America seems to have the habit of "executing" elephants who protest. In 1923, Charlie, an Indian elephant, reacted against her situation. A report relates how "it was decided that Charlie was to be slaughtered and various methods were contemplated. It's believed he was either subjected to a brutal gunshot or garroted by tightened steel cables." The animal's skeleton is "thought to have been donated to the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History."[ix]
   As can be seen, there are parallels between Mary in 1916 and Tyke in 1994. Both killed a trainer and both paid the ultimate price for this. The disposal of the bodies are also very alike. In the case of Mary, as the above article reports, 'she still lies interred in a huge grave which was dug for her...but no one knows exactly where it is, or seems much inclined to find it'. And so it is with Tyke: Hawaii demonstrated its contempt by allowing her body to be dumped in a local landfill with the rubbish and refuse from the island and islanders, and when the authorities were asked where exactly the body had been dumped, they replied 'that no one remembered exactly where Tyke was dumped...'.[x]
   Clearly there is little difference between the fate of Mary and Tyke. Apparently, Tyke's death took longer as after she was riddled with up to 87 bullets, and lay on the ground until the final bullet took its intended action. Her lasting legacy here is to demonstrate the manner in which wild animals continue to be treated in a supposedly civilized world.

   To indicate that there is a pattern here, just two years earlier in 1992, Janet (aka Kelly), an Asian elephant, with another circus, 'ran amok' in Palm Bay, Florida, while having to carry children for 'rides'. As usual, the action adopted by the police was reminiscent of a 'Wild West' scene, and the animal was shot and killed. She was only 27 years old. It is reported that after bullets were fired by a police officer, '40 rounds were fired into the animal's head, including two shots from a bystander's deer rifle and the fatal two shots from a .308 caliber rifle with armor-piercing bullets, police said'. Furthermore, the circus had 'been cited four times for violations of neglecting and not controlling its animals, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture'.[xi], [xii], [xiii]
   'To quash any doubts about whether incidents such as these are 'one-off events', the following files should be consulted:
   Elephant circus incidents (pdf) - 1
   Elephant circus incidents (pdf) - 2

   [9]In October 2015, in view of the noticeable absence of an official or formal statement on Tyke's death by the Hawaiian authorities, I wrote, an admittedly blunt email, to a number of Hawaiian politicians. Result? No response received.
   I also wrote to two of the larger religious groups on Honolulu asking for comments. Result? No response received.
   I also wrote to the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, the location of the circus, from where Tyke escaped. I asked whether the Center had made a statement on the matter. Result? No response received.
   I also emailed the High Commission of Mozambique in London as Tyke was taken from that country. I gave them the facts of the matter and asked for their comment. There was no response. I therefore wrote a letter to the High Commission again, but once again, there was no response.

   [10]This will no doubt seem a minor, almost irrelevant point, but I always feel uncomfortable using the name 'Tyke'. It should be remembered that firstly, Tyke was given her name by those who were involved in her circus existence and secondly, in the English language, the word 'Tyke' is essentially a word with derogatory meanings, amongst other things, 'peasant, barbarian, boor, disagreeable person, unpleasant person', and is therefore wholly inappropriate for such an animal. I only use it here as there is no choice in the matter, but it should be borne in mind that even in captivity she was not given a fitting name.

   [11]Postscript
   * On November 30, 2017, Peta published 'The suffering is over at the Hawthorn Corporation', saying "Few businesses have caused animals more pain and suffering than notorious breeder, dealer, and exhibitor the Hawthorn Corporation. But it’s over for the longtime PETA target. Its license was cancelled, and it’s out of business...For decades, the Illinois-based company - owned by John Cuneo, who holds the “distinction” of being the first person in the U.S. to have had an elephant confiscated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) because of abuse - leased elephants and tigers to circuses, including Shrine-sponsored ones. The company was fined $272,500 in penalties by the USDA and had its license suspended twice."
   * In its Factsheet on the 'Hawthorn Corporation (John Cuneo)', Peta supplies a catalogue of misery arising with this business. Further information about Cuneo and Hawthorn can be found here.
   * On 26 December 2018, it was reported in 'Second State Bans Wild Circus Animals', that "On Friday, Hawaii Governor David Ige enacted a ban on the importation and use of wild animals that could be dangerous - such as tigers, lions, bears, elephants, crocodiles and primates - in circuses, carnivals and other kinds of performances. Animal welfare advocates are thrilled that two states have taken strong measures to protect animals." [xiiii] About time too.
   * Cuneo, who was born in 1931, died in 2019 and unlike Tyke whose tortured body is buried in a landfill, with and under tons of garbage, Cuneo was buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Evanston, Cook County, Illinois.
   * What cannot be disputed is the fact that each and every person who ever attended circus 'shows' in which Tyke was forced to appear, are directly responsible for her miserable, tortured life, and her agonising death.
   * The fact that circuses using animals still exist in America should concern every American: Seven circuses in the U.S that still use animals. See also Shrine Circuses: fundraisers that are no fun for animals.


References
[i]Patrick J Battuello, 'Tyke’s rebellion', TimesUnion, 18 December 2013. Also PETA's information at http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/pdf/Hawthorn-Corporation-pdf.pdf
[ii]'The tragic life of Tyke the elephant', 25 July 2015. Captive Animals' Protection Society.
[iii]Patrick J Battuello, Op Cit.
[iv]'Tyke (elephant)'. Digplanet.
'Kokua Line', Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 22 June 2011.
Will Hoover, 'Slain elephant left tenuous legacy in animal rights', Honolulu Advertiser, 20 August 2004.
[v]'Team 4: Elephant was exposed to violence', WTAE, 21 November 2002.
Patrick J Battuello, Op. Cit.
[vi]'We turned and ran', Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 17 August 2014.
[vii]'Tyke the elephant', Wikisage.
[viii]'The town that hanged an elephant: A chilling photo and a macabre story of murder and revenge', Daily Mail, 14 February 2014.
(NB. Mary was hung on 13 September 1916, after being transported by train to Unicoi County, Tennessee, where a crowd had gathered to see the entertainment of an elephant being slowly strangled to death by being suspended by a crane in the Clinchfield Railroad yard).
[ix]'Harrowing tale of Charlie the 5-ton movie star elephant who was executed for attacking trainer in rampage while filming', Irish Sun, 10 September 2024.
[x]Mike Gordon, 'Documentary depicts Tyke as tragic figure, not outlaw', Honolulu Star Advertiser, 22 February 2015.
[xi]'Circus elephant is killed after it goes on rampage', New York Times, 3 February 1992.
[xii]'State cites circus in elephant rampage', Orlando Sentinel, 5 February 1992.
[xiii]Video.
[xiiii]'Second State bans wild circus animals', The Dodo, 26 December 2018.

As one police officer commented: "The elephant reportedly took two hours to finally bleed to death".



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