Guardian-Elephant killed handler after he ignored warning

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,669814,00.html

 

Elephant killed handler after he ignored warning

 

David Ward

Tuesday March 19, 2002

The Guardian

 

An elephant crushed a zoo keeper to death after he

tried to move her away from a gate in her enclosure at

Chester Zoo, an inquest heard yesterday.

 

The four-tonne Asian elephant named Kumara struck

Richard Hughes, 34, with her trunk and then butted him

as he was forced against a wall.

 

Mr Hughes, who had previously told his partner of his

" grave concerns " about the animal, died in hospital

nine days later. The inquest jury yesterday returned a

verdict of accidental death.

 

The elephant suffered a painful foot condition, which

could make her aggressive and she had attacked Don

Plant, another Chester keeper, twice in the previous

year, causing minor injuries. She was killed

immediately after the incident.

 

" It was not his dream job but he enjoyed working with

the elephants, " Mr Hughes's partner, Julie Anne

Machin, told Cheshire coroner Nicholas Rheinberg at

Macclesfield town hall. " But about Kumara, I was aware

there were grave concerns.

 

" Certainly, after Don was attacked the second time,

Richard said Kumara had upped the stakes. Richard had

said her behaviour was becoming more and more

unacceptable and that she was a risk. "

 

Mr Plant told the inquest he was with Mr Hughes at the

time of the attack last February. They had just

finished mucking out the elephant enclosure, which

housed five females and two young males, and were

giving the animals their daily wash at 8.20am.

 

The men wanted to take an elephant through to a

separate enclosure for her wash but Kumara was

blocking the gate.

 

" Richard came out of the pen through the bars, walked

round on the right hand side of Kumara and gave a

verbal command to move forward, " he said. " She gave

him a glancing blow with her trunk and sent him

against the wall. Immediately she moved out and faced

him head-on and proceeded to butt him. "

 

Mr Plant said keepers were instructed not to issue

verbal commands to Kumara unless one of two elephant

specialists was present. Neither was.

 

Last week a verdict of accidental death was recorded

by the Westminster coroner on keeper James Robson, who

was crushed by an elephant at London Zoo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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