Mary the Elephants packed her trunk ... and Flees Circus

[Guest guest]

associated Press Newswires

Copyright 2002. The Associated Press. .

 

Tuesday, June 18, 2002

 

Elephant heads downtown, as people scatter

 

MENOMONIE, Wis. (AP) - An elephant bowed out early from a circus

performance and headed down Main Street, walking about two miles through

the city before being corralled.

 

" All of a sudden the elephant doing a performance went over the ring

and right through the center ring, " said Shirley Kistner of Menomonie

who was attending the circus Monday afternoon with her 6-year-old

granddaughter, Kaitlyn.

 

" People in the stands and everybody kind of scattered, and out the

door it went. "

 

After the 6-year-old elephant named Mary broke loose at the Dunn

County Recreation Park, the fire department responded with lights and

sirens, prompting Mary and another elephant, 21-year-old Tory, to begin

running in opposite directions, officials said.

 

Tory was quickly recaptured, but Mary continued into the business

district of Menomonie, a western Wisconsin city of 14,000, and onto the

University of Wisconsin-Stout campus until authorities managed to block

its way, Police Chief Dennis Beety said.

 

" People were just dumbfounded, " firefighter Tim Koleski said. " It was

amazing. "

 

Elephant trainer Billy Morris used Tory to calm Mary, her daughter,

and got both elephants loaded onto a semitrailer truck to take them back

to the circus.

 

One child was treated for a slight scrape, the only injury reported.

 

A door at the park was damaged, as was a city water truck that was

used to block the elephants. One elephant backed into the truck, causing

about $600 damage, police reports said.

 

Apparently Mary was sick of working for peanuts.