The Final, Fatal Rampage of Tyke the Elephant | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

[@mnemonichotpocket]

That reminds me of that chris rock bit about a tiger killing people, "They said the tiger went crazy. That tiger didn't go crazy that tiger went TIGER...."

[@emmagatewood3898]

I think by Katt Williams, not Chris Rock

[@mnemonichotpocket]

@emmagatewood3898 No, it's Rock. Google it.

[@SokMunkie]

​@@emmagatewood3898No, it was Chris Rock from his Never Scared special.

[@ladynikkie]

This is why we shouldn't take nature for granted especially to the animal Kingdom

[@DianaT-ph6iz]

people being surprised by animals behaving perfectly natural and in accordance with their nature...

[@Thatposer444]

“She had a bad attitude” is a wild thing to say about an animal forced to be in a place against its will and perform tricks or be punished.

[@jballew2239]

"The beatings will continue until morale improves".

[@randalthor741]

"Man, she had such a bad attitude about us enslaving and abusing her, I don't know what her problem was."

[@prettypuff1]

it’s a wild thing to say about an animal

[@annehaight9963]

And stolen from its mother as a baby.

[@texasrefugee7888]

That's something cops say frequently about anyone except themselves

[@SimpleJack-mc4cg]

After living in Thailand for 20+ years. I can confirm. An abused elephant never forgets. And rightly so.

[@gingerjoe4759]

How many elephants have you abused in Thailand?

[@SimpleJack-mc4cg]

@@gingerjoe4759 with my massive cock? Quite a few mate. lmfao

[@dubuyajay9964]

He lives in a country where trained elephants are pretty common. Don't be an 🍑🫏🕳⛳️. ​@@gingerjoe4759

[@luanagardner1815]

​@@gingerjoe4759Why are YOU trying to hurt people?

[@TheAngieStoned]

The sound emitted after the mahoot thwacked the elephant right in the temple, with that geology hatchet looking thing, haunts me til this day. To my absolute horror he used the sharp end on her. Unforgivable behaviour, right there.

[@SuperMickyChow]

Tyke was just like "Y'know what? F this sh*t! I quit!" and no one can blame her

[@skankskunk-o8m]

I have "fuck this shit, I quit" but I am a stupid human with crap like manners imposed on me. :((((

[@MoveLook11]

reasonable crashout

[@jeremytheloner]

That poor elephant just had enough. She was abused, angry, and not willing to put up with it anymore. These animals are highly intelligent and shouldn't have to perform for people. 😠

[@eadweard.]

They're idiots.

[@reddwarfer999]

And when they complained she was difficult to train it was her fault for having a 'bad attitude'. That beggars belief. What kind of attitude did they expect her to have? All she wanted was to be an elephant, not perform idiotic tricks for humans.

[@TheRenderman74]

@@eadweard. Takes one to know one...

[@eadweard.]

@@TheRenderman74 It takes an idiot to know an idiot?

[@oscarguerrero178]

@@eadweard. The people abusing them? Yeah, they are.

[@fantabulouspiza]

This one made me cry, I can't imagine the confusion, pain and loneliness she must have been feeling.

[@LoneStarMillennial]

You are a fool.

[@ross-carlson]

Same here - I can't imagine the horror that was her day to day life and the end - so incredibly sad. She just wanted to be an elephant.

[@rammibear9649]

@@ross-carlson That's what I was thinking too. She just wanted to be free like she was born to be.

[@veryberry39]

I wish I hadn't watched this one. I'm sitting here crying, too. Those poor animals!

[@martinc.720]

@@veryberry39 Then you'll watch a video about a human that was treated in the same way, and you'll go "Meh. Things happen."

[@Tser]

When smaller animals are mistreated, it often goes unnoted. But when large animals like elephants or orca are mistreated, it can come to light in the most tragic ways. That, at least, can be recognized, and leads to change... at least for some of the more magnificent and charismatic animals. But so much more still needs to be done as we recognize the damage inflicted on animals in the entertainment industry.

[@l-l]

100%

[@jeffkujawa803]

Thank you for your insight

[@geocelta1961]

It's also that elephants and orcas are extremely intelligent animals. They may even be low end sapient and certainly sentient. Orcas have been recorded having multiple languages and elephants have graveyards. Both mourn their dead, travel hundreds of miles a year, and are highly social. Forcing these animals into tiny enclosures alone would definitely drive them insane.

[@marveloussoftware4914]

Reminds me of the movie Orca. A must see.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

@@geocelta1961 even more so with smaller dolphins, who tend to be more communal. orca's will live most of their lives as lone hunters, so they can at least somewhat accept being alone, not so with bottlenose dolphins or many of the other smaller species, which are naturally never outside of communication range with an "extended tribe" of maybe 50 to a few hundred individuals.

[@Sheena3745]

I remember the news then, showing people crying on the streets of Hawaii, including cops who had to shoot. Everyone was angry at the horrible "training". That said, I never heard before about this poor elephant's previous escapes & attacks. Considering the massive coverage, it makes one think it was kept under wraps for a while. Thank you for your great research on these cases.

[@RainbowMama143]

I remember when it happened too. I was a kid and was devastated they killed her. I’ve never been to a circus or taken my children to one precisely because of this incident

[@elliottprice6084]

Such a sad story of an innocent wild animal being driven mad by cruelty, for other people's entertainment. RIP Tyke 💔

[@Ashleightryingtolive]

Exactly what I was thinking. That poor anima 💔

[@Xane_Dragon]

Find a channel that shows the whole video ! 😠

[@dianethill1841]

Her trainers said she didnt have a good attitude. Yeah I don't think I'd have a very good attitude if someone chained me up, beat me and poked me with sharp objects either. Poor Tyke, she deserved better.

[@ellenbryn]

The fact that Tyke got loose in a fairground on a previous occasion yet didn't hurt any onlookers is significant, I think. She was AVOIDING people. Even though she was kidnapped as a baby and not fully trained by elephants, with PTSD caused by torture and social isolation, she still showed intelligence, maybe even ethics: she didn't strike at random humans in panic , just her chief tormentors and captors. Ironically, the people running from her were not so careful. Elephants are so intelligent, we now know they use names and nicknames for one another. Imagine being that high on the sentience spectrum and forced to suffer as she did for 20 years, all alone when she was a member of a social species, unable to talk to anyone when they DO talk to one another, treated like she was stupid by another type of being ignoring any attempts she made to communicate. And then she died in fear and agony and pain, as she lived. Poor thing. She wasn't human, but she was a person (a self-aware, sentient, thinking being with feelings and autonomy). I'm glad this did at least help put an end to similar suffering for others. To my shame I remember going to a Barnum & Bailey circuc when I was a kid that had elephants. I had no idea they were tortured and chained. :(

[@wgsuperstar7730]

Who gives a sh!t

[@StevieZala]

You are clearly a very kind & thoughtful individual, please don't punish yourself for going to the circus as a kid. You were a child, you had no choice 😊

[@doonagoding6146]

Same here

[@MrEvan312]

Circuses like Tyke's rely on attendees that a) don't know better (ie, most children) or b) don't care, people who are cruel.

[@GothVampiress]

new jersey being the first state to ban wild animal shows makes sense when you consider that the elephant thomas edison famously electrocuted was also a circus animal who had killed a person during a show.

[@mattm2231]

have you heard of the story about Mary the Elephant from in Erwin, TN?

[@sunnydoom2726]

Edison did not electrocute Topsy but it is commonly believed so. Though I doubt he would have been against it. But Topsy was executed for very similar reasons that Tyke was. Still very sad.

[@mattm2231]

@@sunnydoom2726 have you heard about Mary the Elephant in erwin TN?

[@nannerthepuss]

Just adding to what other poster said - Edison had nothing to do with that elephant electrocution, outside of his name being on the company marquee. He had been out of the company entirely for a while at that point and, as for the other part of the urban legend about how the staged electrocution was part of a demonstration of how dangerous AC was vs. DC, that hadn't been a debate for 10 years at that point. AC had won and the industry moved on. Edison was a piece of shit by all accounts, but had nothing to do with this.

[@jamienicole2122]

@@sunnydoom2726Yes, Topsy was already set to be “put down” due to her rampaging/trampling people because humans were horrible to her, one of the gents that was trampled by her kicked sand in her face/eyes and the other guy burnt her with a lit cigar. She was actually set to be HANGED for these transgressions! 😳 So yes, she was already going to be put down, but it was Thomas Edison’s awful company that used her execution as a way to show off their dc current. So, your answer is a bit off. I’m not saying that there was a direct current vs. alternative current feud still going on at that time, but either way, Thomas Edison took every opportunity he could to showcase his direct current.

[@michellemahar9030]

That poor elephant deserved so much better. At least this opened people's eyes to what was happening.

[@jake12466]

Now please open your eyes to the hundreds of millions of animals that die screaming in slaughterhouses every single day. Please go vegan. 💚🌱

[@poondog1952]

As a child in the early 1960's it was quite common on TV programs for "people" to dress dogs up in clothes to make them look like humans and walk around on their hind legs doing things like pushing prams(with a tiny puppy in dressed like a baby), carrying shopping bags and even carrying walking sticks with their front paws. They knocked on little front doors that were opened by other dogs standing on their hind legs and also dressed like humans. I always found this very amusing until one day my father(who had worked briefly for a circus in the 1920's)told me that these poor animals had the pads on their front paws burnt with cigarettes if they put their paws on the ground! How totally horrific some people are just to earn a few pounds!

[@minntaaka]

That's just so unnatural and absurdly cruel... the paw burning, the costumes, the hind leg walking... those poor dogs. (side note, it really frustrates me when people insist their dog "loves" being dressed in costumes.... No. I can assure they hate it. They merely tolerate it.)

[@brittanynicole7431]

I taught my pup to 'dance' on his hind paws. I noticed when he was eager or wanted something from my hand, he'd balance on his hind feet and kind of shuffle excitedly. I used clicker training to mark the behavior and eventually paired a cue. He took to it quickly, especially when he got bites of chicken. Hopefully at least some of the dogs you saw were trained using similar positive reinforcement training methods.

[@tin2001]

Many dogs, especially larger ones, will have problems with their hips and other joints if they spend too much time upright. They're not designed to do it, whether they do it themselves or through training. Dogs are designed to stand and walk on all 4 legs.

[@htos1av]

And make sure sure they get plenty of meat proteins for their joints. (we've raised/bred Chihuahua's since before me)

[@nottechytutorials]

There was a video of small dogs running through a crowded streets on their hindlegs. They had on human clothes and looked like little children. It was kinda freaky to see. I learned from the comments that owners like these abused their dogs to force them to stand upright, and it really hurts them.

[@sheepkind]

what makes me the most sad and upset about this whole thing, aside from the obvious cruel training practices, is that they just left her to bleed out. it breaks my heart imagining how scared she must’ve been after she collapsed. couldn’t they at least have done the mercy of killing her quickly?? Tyke truly was a victim, one whose death will never be forgotten. her passing allowed so many others to live RIP Tyke 😞💖

[@madokami03]

2 long, painful and agonizing hours. They already shot her 86 times, they couldn't have given even one more, one with careful consideration to end her suffering quickly and painlessly? Monsters, the whole bunch of them, for leaving her to suffer for so long like that

[@chrisevans2645]

It's an elephant vs cops. There's cases of cops not knowing how to cleanly dispatch wounded deer, let alone an elephant. Even if they did know it appears they were armed with the Mini 14, which fires the same anemic round as the AR-15. It's likely many didn't even have that, instead having only shotguns or sidearms. If you remember the North Hollywood shootout the cops couldn't stop two guys with body armor on until they borrowed some rifles from a gun store. It wasn't until then that issuing rifles started becoming common. Even so the 5.56 round that they are typically chambered in fairly weak even for deer. Even common American big game rifles are underpowered for elephant, though they have been known to do the job with expert shot placement. Unfortunately it's not like they could whip out their smart phone and Google elephant anatomy.

[@InteriorDesignStudent]

@@chrisevans2645 They had two hours to find a veterinarian or phone the nearest zoo for help.

[@SlapthePissouttayew]

@@chrisevans2645 💯

[@melissaharris3389]

They could've called a veterinarian from the Honolulu zoo to at least euthanize her humanity.

[@helengraves7850]

Caitlin Doughty ("Ask a Mortician") did a long piece on Tyke - particularly well informed as she grew up in Hawaii. It is fascinating, but I found it tough watching, and am grateful for this less gruesome summary.

[@hpharridan]

Caitlin Doughty is wonderful.

[@JoshuaGraham_]

It's disgusting this incident happened only 30 years ago. Imagine if a bunch of strange elves kidnapped you, shipped you into an environment you're not used to, beat you when you refused to learn their tricks.

[@peecee1384]

Or worse, imagine you are an antelope and a wild lion caught you and tore you apart and then ate you.

[@PointNemo9]

It's equally disgusting no matter how long ago it happened. 30 years ago or 300 years ago, it's just as horrific.

[@Kat-amber-t2z]

@@peecee1384 That's not relevant. The lion must eat to live- we do not have to torture elephants to live.

[@andrewmountford3608]

One of the saddest episodes on your channel. The poor innocent creature.

[@fursuredog]

Then when you finally escape the elves (because you are much stronger)- you get shot by 80+ little arrows that finally take you out.

[@lauravturner]

She was taken as a baby. Elephants remember every day of their lives. I've seen elephants who were 6 days old when their mother was killed in front of them and they cried daily for 2 or 3 years afterwards. Their trauma can never be forgotten. I can only imagine the rage that built inside her when she didn't even have time to grieve past abuse before being subjected to more. Every month a new torture method. She deserved so much better, as did any elephant subjected to such maliciousness callousness.

[@wren1024]

Poor elephant

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

We ❤ elephants.

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

Why poor?

[@avgrim7729]

​@@joãoAlberto-k9xShe was mistreated!!

[@matthewp9156]

@@joãoAlberto-k9x Watch the video that youre commenting on, or is that too much for your 65 IQ brain?

[@ariannaong4810]

@@joãoAlberto-k9xI’m guessing English isn’t your first language? “Poor” is used to describe something unfortunate or a sad situation.

[@The_Caracal]

I've been watching this channel for years. This might be the first time the true horror wasn't done on humans. Thank you for expanding your content to include this poor elephant.

[@RoundSeal]

I can't imagine what circus elephants have gone through. Their poor mothers, aunts, and grandmothers must have been so confused and frantic at the loss of their baby, not understanding that they would never see them again. They have such intelligence and empathy. I can only imagine her fear, pain, anger. What sort of torment it would take to drive a naturally gentle and considerate animal to this.

[@jake12466]

Now imagine what hundreds of millions of animals that die screaming in slaughterhouses go through every single day. Please go vegan. 💚🌱

[@ThatGuyInTheDesert]

@@jake12466 No 🥰

[@mph1ish]

@@jake12466 I agree that animals killed for meat should never be tortured to death. But the fact is most humans eat meat and that will never change. Nor should anyone tell them to stop.

[@adamw4245]

@@jake12466this not the same

[@conorhutchings4468]

​@@jake12466L take

[@patron8597]

6:58 "Tyke was moving seemingly at random" I mean, yeah I doubt she knew the city map.

[@jamest2401]

Caitlin Doughty did an excellent video on this topic, called ‘Why Did Tyke the Elephant Have to Die?’. As with ‘Fascinating Horror’, I highly, HIGHLY recommend anything on her channel; now eponymous but formerly known as ‘Ask a Mortician’.

[@brj_han]

I wanted her to come over and read some horror stories at my halloween party, lol....

[@jamest2401]

I LOVE Caitlin Doughty! She’s one of KZbin’s greatest personalities. She has such a cute and quirky sense of humor. I got kick out of her allusions to her younger self being a “morbid teen”, smoking clove cigarettes outside the Goth club. I never did the Goth club part, but I was so much the other.😂

[@Tommytakanawa]

You simps are hard up.

[@jelyfisher]

I'm am also a fellow Deathling.

[@Tommytakanawa]

@@jamest2401 pathetic

[@NextToToddliness]

I was 8 when this happened, and remember being so sad for the elephant. A few years later, my dad got tickets to Ringling Bros, and I hated every second of it. Almost all the animals looked scared out of their minds and the elephants looked miserable. I remember hearing all the cheers and thinking of how frightened those animals must be. Circuses and most animal attractions are horrible and we should continue to limit the suffering of animals in captivity.

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

Not to pooh pooh what you're saying, but I've yet to see an elephant who looks happy. They generally just mope around unless they are annoyed

[@lavenderflowersfall280]

​@@GregBrownsWorldORacingshut up

[@kmdkrohn]

There's a story about an elephant who was treated amazingly by his handler, but was then sold to someone who used pain methods. His name was Modoc. He was eventually reunited with his loving handler, and remembered him. I have the book, but I can't read it again because it is so sad

[@sweetsucculentcontentnectar]

Book was written by Ralph Helfer.

[@johnnydkota5709]

Crazy. That’s the name of my Native American tribe

[@atreyu4ws]

There is such a huge difference between training domesticated animals, like horses, to do tricks (as we've selectively bred them for hundreds if not thousands of years to work with humans), and capturing a wild animal and forcing it to perform.

[@reachandler3655]

They tortured her, shot her when she escaped, and left her to bleed to death for 2 hours? They didn't even have the decency to end her suffering? 😭

[@equarg]

No. As a hunter it sickens me to this day. I loath suffering, and find myself rooting for the animals more and more in human animal conflicts. A single bullet to the back of the ear would have sufficed to end her pain. It’s sickening what happened to the first two elephants brought to the US early in our history. Both died horribly, one from over 100 bullets because a local man was upset there was a show on a “Sunday”. Elephants are very intelligent. They have tight families and bonds. Saw one reacting to seeing another elephant from a circus 25 years after basically living in isolation at a zoo. When taken to a sanctuary, it recognized that other elephant when it came in to see the “newcomer” and started ROARING with pure joy. The two elephants bent massive steel pillars trying to get closer together. I swore as a hunter to NEVER hunt an elephant as a result. If I go to Africa, I would only shoot with…a camera.

[@TwinBleaks]

​@@equarg So the animals you hunt for fun don't also suffer? Members of their herds/family groups don't also suffer?

[@KerzacTransformed]

@@TwinBleaks its like you didn't even read the comment and just wanna be rage bait

[@WoodyWard]

​@@TwinBleakscows suffer. Don't eat cows

[@TwinBleaks]

@@KerzacTransformed No, I did read the comment. If you're baited, that's a you problem.

[@missykeatings9114]

Imagine expecting a wild animal you are holding captive in chains and abusing to have a good attitude. I hate people

[@jake12466]

Now imagine the hundreds of millions of animals that die screaming in slaughterhouses every single day. Please go vegan. 💚🌱

[@Megaman634]

@@jake12466 no

[@emilyadams3228]

Guess what? People do the same thing to people.

[@davidburgoyne7489]

@@jake12466 Grass is knee deep at my house, c'mon over for dinner!!

[@ct6502c]

​@@jake12466You're a Millennial, aren't you? 🙄

[@tfrowlett8752]

Caitlin Dohurty on Ask a Mortician talked about this, she was in Hawaii when this happened, I’m glad some circuses are moving away from using live animals for entertainment, especially with how they’re treated back then and now

[@spazzypengin]

"Some circuses." The biggest ones in the US stopped animal shows like 10+ years ago, welcome to 2014.

[@nannerz1994]

I came here to say this

[@nannerz1994]

Also Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey closed its doors I'm pretty sure a few years ago ​@@spazzypengin

[@mikeclarke952]

I watched that a few years back. She talked about how traumatic it was for her as a young girl. Now she has a channel focused on death, hmm I wonder.

[@dawnstorm9768]

​@@nannerz1994Yes they did.

[@Aonalion]

This video feels different from your usual ones, but I enjoyed it. When I was a kid in the 90s and early 00s (in Sweden) the circus would come to our village every summer and my family would always go. I remember they had elephants and camels, but I don't think they had any carnivorous animals. Either way, as a kid of course I thought it was amazing seeing the wild animals up close, but as I grew older I started to understand just how badly treated they were. I was born in 93 so I didn't learn about Tyke until much later, and for a while I refused to go to the circus with my family. Nowadays most animals are banned from circuses in Sweden, and I recently went to the circus for the first time since I was a kid, and they only had human performers :)

[@tkf15]

I went to Cirque du Solei with my mom nearly a decade ago, we LOVED it!

[@emam5035]

Such a sad story! That poor, poor animal! I’ve never liked circus, not even as a child.

[@RefreshingShamrock]

I love how you took a horror story and explained a bit of history that no school would ever teach. Then after the incident you explained how it impacted an industry going forward.

[@AnimalsVehiclesAndMore]

It's been over 30 years since this incident took place (in fact, the 30th anniversary was August 20th this year), and it's a very sad story, indeed. Tyke really deserved much better, as well as other Elephants such as Mary and Topsy. May all late circus animals rest in peace.

[@melissawalker3874]

Two beautiful baby elephants were born at my local zoo a couple months back and I am so thankful that those two beautiful babies will never have to go through anything like some of the circus animals have to go through. It is absolutely amazing how much the local zoo has changed over the last 50 years. When all the children of Fresno got together and collected their change for Fresno to buy its first elephant, Nosey, she was kept in a cement bottomed yard with big iron bars and hardly any shade. Now the African adventure exhibit where the elephants are kept what's something that jungle Jack Hanna was impressed with. I'm so glad we've come so far with animal welfare

[@B.H.56]

I remember seeing the elephant at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston back in the 1970's. Kept in a house not much bigger than her, chained on the foot, rocking back and forth. If you can't do better for an animal, give it to a zoo who CAN do better. I haven't been back to a zoo since.

[@littlebear274]

Auckland Zoo in New Zealand used to have two elephants and were trying to establish a family herd but in 2011 they realised they wouldn't be able to provide the right conditions for them and rehomed them to Taronga Zoo in Australia. Absolutely the correct decision in my eyes. Elephants especially are animals that you *need* to give an appropriate habitat. Zoos in New Zealand at least these days are all pretty committed to conservation and animal welfare (my home city doesn't even have an actual zoo, but a wildlife reserve where you really have to go around at feeding time or else the animals will be too far away in their large habitats to see them properly) and participate in quite a few breeding programs especially for native birds. The one in Wellington also has a great veterinary clinic where they treat and rehabilitate wild birds that are found injured.

[@KaminoKatie]

The North Carolina Zoo in Ashboro is one of the greatest zoos in the world

[@melissawalker3874]

@@littlebear274 the Fresno zoo used to have Asian and African elephants but realized the Asian exhibit was not up to snuff and was doing their best to rehome the two Asian elephants they had when one sadly had to be euthanized and because the other one could not be alone they had to rush the transfer to another zoo but now that lone female is the happy grandmother in her herd where she is now.

[@bradallen8909]

You do realise zoos are almost as cruel as circuses?

[@CountBasie56]

RIP Tyke. So tragically sad.

[@yukeenakamura1398]

Topsy and Mary are several other notable elephants who were killed through human entertainment. Both of which met horrendously cruel ends. Not to mention the cruel physical and psychological trauma inflicted on modern logging elephants used as beasts of burden and the thousands of elephants who were killed for their ivory.

[@ladysilverwynde]

In certain countries, monkeys are used for slave labor, picking coconuts. We suck as a species.

[@Louisa.Bowman23]

It’s shocking and heartbreaking that these circus people were so blind that they didn’t realise that their animal’s violent behaviour was caused because of their own actions and cruel treatment towards them. Plus the fact that the wild animals weren’t in their natural habitats or able to do what they like in their natural way 😭😭😭No wonder they would turn on the monsters who abused them and held them prisoner against their own will.

[@Wolfshead009]

They knew all to well what caused it. They also knew that it made money for them.

[@jennahthecat6305]

Je me rappelle avoir vu cette horreur aux infos quand j’étais petite, ça m’avait énormément choqué. Aujourd’hui j’ai 40 ans et ne pourrais pas revoir ces images terribles. Cette majestueuse créature abattue alors qu’elle tentait d’échapper à ses bourreaux, portant encore un chapeau ridicule sur sa tête… C’est d’une telle tristesse 😢

[@charlesfaure1189]

This fails to capture the true horror of Tyke's death. She suffered unbeliveably. Zero empathy for the 'trainer.'

[@paulban889]

No sympathy at all for slavers and torturers. Animals should be left alone to live their natural lives and not corralled into displays of sadistic control by humans.

[@robertstone9988]

​@@paulban889do you have a cat? Or a dog? Fish?

[@AidanMacgregor-Personal]

He got his karma in the end eh

[@hannahblurp9360]

​@@robertstone9988 are you really comparing dogs, which have been bred for thousands of years to be domestic pets, to wild elephants?

[@joshuaevans5983]

You shouldn’t be so quick to cast judgement on the trainer. Maybe he contributed to an animal’s suffering, but does that mean he deserved to die?

[@VHFonFire]

Of all the tragedies you've covered, this one hurts the most for me. Tyke was completely innocent, a product of a terrible system of "entertainment". Rest in Peace Tyke 💔

[@vustvaleo8068]

animals have feelings too, they are living entities after all.

[@jake12466]

Correct!! Vegan power. 💚🌱

[@emusaurus]

Yep, but they don't share the same views as humans do

[@j.LuciusLark]

But plants also are living creatures...

[@propertyofranger]

I couldn’t watch this. Being already familiar with the story I just can’t bear to hear of Tyke’s terrible suffering again. RIP Tyke. You deserved so much better.

[@miasolala8415]

same! it was a shame and heartbreaking back then and it still is.

[@jake12466]

If this is too much for you to bear, then I really hope you're vegan! Hundreds of millions of animals go through worse than this in slaughterhouses every single day 😥

[@WinterInTheForest]

@@jake12466 I'm going to eat extra meat this week just because of your cringe comments.

[@B33_humanpersondudeguy]

@@jake12466home boy probably still devours 5 big macs and a 10 pc chicken nugget after commenting this 😂

[@ryuzakitodoroki2604]

This happens so often in South India , they bring Elephants to big temple fairs, elephants get spooked by large number of people and firecrackers noises and often go on rampages.

[@jeffrey4063]

Surprisingly, this video about an elephant was more disturbing than most of the other videos I've watched on this channel. Maybe something good came from Tykes death. Thanks for all the time you put into posting these great videos. They're always very interesting to watch and much appreciated!

[@FascinatingHorror]

Thank you! It's a disturbing story, for sure... but hopefully something good came from it in the end.

[@stuff___idontknow2610]

I live in hawaii and have been to the blaisdale center. My dad told me about watching this whole thing play out on TV but i never knew about the full details. Thank you for shedding a light on this tragic story

[@beatrixpotter7468]

I took my child to a circus in the mid 90s, I've regretted it ever since. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I know better now, and she is an avid animal advocate, specifically focusing on exotic animal rescue and rehab. I'm so sorry I ever spent a penny on an industry that tortures/mistreats animals.

[@zach6210]

it's sad what happens to intelligent animals when they're mistreated. Reminds of the incident at seaworld where an orca attacked several people over time..

[@JonasWhite]

F’n humanity, man. We have a lot of paying up to do when it comes to this mistreatment of animals. What absolute monsters we can be…

[@hushingsilence]

I remember watching this on TV when they used to show news stories without censorship.

[@israel3538]

Those were the days

[@BrittneyDeShea420]

So do I . It made me cry.

[@tabytastick]

I remember as well. Tyke crushed that trainer into a corner. They said that was the only reason he lived, because she could fully get her weight into the corner.

[@reynaldoflores4522]

Tyke was an AFRICAN elephant. They are wild and untrainable. Unlike the Asian elephant, which have been used as trained work animals for centuries, the Africans have never been domesticated . Even by the native African tribes . This was literally an accident waiting to happen.

[@CecilBob-c4l]

When I saw the first image of her I thought along those lines Holy Smokes! That's an African! What were they thinking? You Don't train those, they will turn you into puddles.

[@kentslocum]

I remember my family attending one of the last performances of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus before it ended. There were a few elephants, but no other exotic animals. Just some trained cats and dogs. One of the trapeze artists fell during their acrobatic routine and was carried out on a stretcher. I remember being thoroughly underwhelmed and not at all sad that it was my last circus.

[@andreacook7431]

I saw one of the shows before they took out most of the animals. Honestly, the trained house cats were the most impressive to me. I can't get mine to stay off the counter, let alone do an acrobatic routine.

[@kentslocum]

@andreacook7431 True. I think Cirque du Soleil is what circuses have essentially become--humans only.

[@B.H.56]

@@kentslocum I find them so much more interesting than seeing trained (tortured) animals.

[@TankHardcheese]

"Bart Gets An Elephant" aired less than 5 months prior to this incident. DID THOSE FOOLS LEARN NOTHING FROM STAMPY?!

[@morganguest1343]

Bart himself would have been "Shocked & Appaled".

[@alarmactionukalarmactionuk893]

I cannot fathom how some people can possibly be so heartlessly cruel and devoid of all compassion. Infact a lack of empathy and compassion is an awful trait in a human being.

[@jake12466]

I really hope you're vegan, then! Hundreds of millions of animals die screaming in slaughterhouses every single day. Please have compassion for them and go vegan. 💚🌱

[@ct6502c]

​@@jake12466Get off your soapbox.

[@WinterInTheForest]

@@jake12466 Shut up Jake

[@RMWestcott]

Of all the videos you've done, this one is one of the saddest. That poor animal...

[@michaelholt8590]

There are dangerous monsters in this world. We are those monsters.😢

[@LinDuhLou]

💯

[@jake12466]

100%. Please go vegan!! 💚🌱

[@michaelholt8590]

@jake12466 No

[@LinDuhLou]

@@michaelholt8590 he’s only asking. You don’t have to respond yes or no-unless you want to be a prick. I’m guessing you do.

[@MegaMesozoic]

@@jake12466 Going vegan is not going to stop people from being monsters!!

[@Harleyh8309]

Eyewitness here. Not from the arena, but from the high-rise Tyke died next to. Tyke didn't die within the reported half hour. She was scared and suffered for a long time, having escaped sometime between 3-4pm. Zoo officials didn't arrive until much later with rounds that could pierce her hide, which sounded distinctly different to those used by HPD. They finally stopped shooting Tyke sometime between 6:15 and 6:30, during the evening news which was reporting her "already dead." I'm glad animal shows aren't so much a part of our culture anymore.

[@suspended_top_spin]

Wait, what? Why did they let her bleed to death for over 2 hours? Like, it's bad enough as it is, but why not finish the job and put the poor animal out of her misery once she was stopped?

[@sandraallen8832]

Exactly what I was thinking

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

The problem the police had was the lack of knowledge on elephants and how dangerous they can be when wounded.

[@sevenlexar]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 That's what I was thinking. If there wasn't a ton of knowledge on how a wounded elephant would act, let alone one acting like Tyke did beforehand, they might not have wanted to risk getting close enough to end her in a quicker fashion. It's sad, but it makes sense.

[@RogueT-Rex8468]

Lack of training knowledge. Normal police are not given an animal dispatch course, and even if so I doubt an elephant would ever have been on that list. It’s tragic all around as it’s something that literally shouldn’t have been in the first place.

[@anthonyhayes1267]

​@@sevenlexarit also seems from the footage that they weren't toting anything larger than a 223. If they wanted to put Tyke out of her misery, they'd almost certainly need to shoot point blank

[@CoasterMan13Official]

First heard of this incident on a show called "What Went Wrong". The circus staff abused this poor animal.

[@doctordolldesigns4009]

Elephants are such sensitive and beautiful creatures. So cruel.

[@Nitrospartan911]

"This wild elephant which we took from the wild, and forced to do circus tricks, didn't have a good attitude."

[@BattleBro77]

Justice for Tyke. Justice for Harambe. Justice for Peanut. Justice for Fred.

[@Kat-amber-t2z]

Agreed.

[@rayadawn3535]

Peanut was put down because the "rehabber" had failed to actually rehabilitate it and was only harming it

[@MisterSandmanAU]

Peanut was a wild animal that the owner used to promote his Onlyfans

[@otten5666]

@@rayadawn3535 Feeding and taking care of a squirrel is 'harming' it and the solution is to kill it? Okay then.

[@alanaldpal950]

@@rayadawn3535 rubbish…… there was no need to kill him

[@BA-rh5hy]

RIP TYKE ... I was 5 when this happened and never forget how sad this made me feel back then hearing about it in the news. So glad animal acts have seized.

[@paulban889]

"Didn't have a good attitude". The gall and insolence of these monstrous torturers. To animals most humans are cynical demons.

[@Callum38]

Hell, to a lot of humans other humans are cynical demons. The lack of empathy I see on a day to day basis sickens me. I trust most animals more than people. I envy uncontacted tribes who live in a struggle for survival but one with nature and connected with eachother. Modern society breeds psychopathy and neuroticism. I have a strong desire to return to monke

[@fuzzcopter467]

@@Callum38 Have stick, life good. Lose stick, life not good. Find new stick, life good again.

[@ElMapacheEnfuego]

0:20 I already side with the elephant.

[@kevindavis296]

And all this time they made Tyke the villain. All along she was a victim. And her trainer alex was the villain

[@ladysilverwynde]

Same.

[@barneyward6448]

Incidents like this should have been a wake up call that, maybe just maybe, animals should made to live naturally in their environment and not be captured, then used and abused for peoples entertainment.

[@jessicamessicak]

😢😢 I remember this. Your story has not been forgotten Tyke

[@barbaraprest783]

Poor Tyke , mistreated and abused all her life - she paid with her life for others misdeeds .

[@KaminoKatie]

She became a martyr

[@imorca1994]

Stories like this break my heart. I just weep when I think of Tyke.

[@Crazyfj]

This story is heartbreaking. Poor Tyke and those that died. Should never have happened in the first place. Animals don't belong in the circus.

[@Tempest-jc3me]

I've heard stories about how circus' in Europe are using lightshows and holograms of animals instead of real animals as a protest against animal performers. Don't know how valid this is but sounds like a massive improvement.

[@realLsf]

Poor elephant. What a horrible way to die. If they’d left it where it belonged, none of it would’ve happened

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

True, the poachers would of got her.

[@somehaloguy9372]

If you think this is crazy just wait until you hear about the time we hung an elephant for murder

[@bradallen8909]

Her. Not “it”.

[@ladysilverwynde]

​@@neiloflongbeck5705would've

[@CharlesScott-yf9op]

Thanks!

[@FascinatingHorror]

Thank you!

[@philtkaswahl2124]

At least the only life lost other than hers was the one who mistreated her in training, especially as it was later found that he was abusing her while using cocaine.

[@Tommytakanawa]

What does cocaine have to do with anything? So if someone uses cocaine they are more deserving of death? Are you insane?

[@stanislavczebinski994]

Here in Germany, a guy runs a one-man-circus using only cats, dogs - and mice. He gets even booked by environmental protection groups due to his animal-friendly approach. All the tricks the animals do are based on their personality. His mice jump through rings of fire - they aren't afraid of it naturally - according to him. He even has cats and mice on stage together - but only those cats who don't hunt them, obviously. Furthermore, Circus Roncalli doesn't use exotic animals anymore. They do mostly acrobatics - and a horse show.

[@DrWho-vc2go]

A needless death, for such a noble creature.

[@LITTLE1994]

Elephants are much like humans when it comes to memory. When they get abused, it WILL stick with them forever.

[@foo219]

I remember reading that elephants' brains react to them seeing humans similarly to how humans' brains react to us seeing puppies. They see us as puppies. How badly must you fuck someone up to get them to the point where they are afraid of and attack puppies?

[@jake12466]

Now guess what happens to baby cows in slaughterhouses around the world every single day. Please go vegan! 🌱💚

[@wolfdefender01]

I also recommend Caitlyn Doughty’s video on Tyke for an even more in depth look at what happened.

[@michaelkantner6420]

I really hate that this happened, that poor elephant didn't deserve to die in the manner that she did. Why did they let her bleed to death? Couldn't they have used something to ease her suffering? It's disgusting to think that everybody involved just stood around and watched her slowly die. I have no sympathy for any of those people who just stood by and did nothing to help her with her suffering. R.I.P. Tyke, on behalf of us humans, I am sorry for what happened to you.

[@Orquet-qj2nf]

Wounded deer have unalived hunters who approached them to finish them off quickly. They should have found a hunter because maybe the hunter would have had the means to finish her off quickly. On Hawaii, a bit more difficult, I guess. A farmer would have been their next best bet.

[@michaelkantner6420]

@@Orquet-qj2nf What about a veterinarian, don't they have drugs that put animals to sleep??? WTF???

[@damonr-fk5rp]

I resent the fact that people characterized Tyke as being as a "scared and confused animal". This was a thinking being who saw an opening to escape the torture she was being subjected to, and took it. Elephants are exceptionally smart, I'd even venture to say as smart as humans. They mourn their dead and even the death of humans that cared for them humanely. They demonstrate the ability to remember locations of resources that their ancestors knew about. They have the ability to exact revenge on people who treated them with cruelty, as we see here.

[@NolaGal2601]

I’m sorry I couldn’t finish watching this. I’m glad you chose to bring it to light.

[@misspiggy9647]

He didn't include the actual footage. Just described what happened.

[@frostiie45]

This is heart wrenching. Painful. Thank you for sharing.

[@Pfahli94]

Reminds me of the elephant that fell from the hanging trains in Wuppertal, Germany

[@6KIWIDino5]

Poor tyke. The Tooth and Claw podcast has an even more in-depth account of how horrible tykes life really was and how horrific her death was.

[@Madamegato]

I remember going to the circus for the first time when I was about 8-9 years old. I loved the acrobats, laughed at the clowns, and then had a very peculiar sense of shame come over me when I was watching the lion trainer. It simply felt wrong because, at that time, I loved big cats and had read a lot about them in their habitat and environments. I could see they were not happy and it made me sad. I never went to another circus again. Zoos were another place that, once I got into my teens, I just started feeling terrible for the animals there - animals that roam hundreds of miles in the wild cooped up in, basically, a fish bowl. I haven't been to a zoo in a decade. Went to Sea World in 2002. Made me feel sick after the feeling of being impressed by the orca's size wore off. We just don't need these places anymore. Places of animal suffering, at least for those who should be flying, swimming, running in open spaces. I remember seeing this on the news and just feeling heartbroken for Tyke.

[@KaminoKatie]

The North Carolina Zoo in Ashboro is one of the greatest zoos in the world

[@sunnydoom2726]

I agree with much of this except for the Zoo. At least when they are properly run they are used for research, breeding programs, rehabilitation, and education. As well as a home for injured animals who would no longer survive in the wild. But Sea World is a total horror show. Keeping orcas and dolphins and such in captivity when they could be roaming free in the wild is just horrible.

[@monicahyland8641]

Humans are monsters, Rest In Peace Tyke. This poor elephant 🐘

[@seanagulan9481]

You mean those people that has a rotten core inside?

[@aceckrot]

Is there something about the names Hawthorne and Illinois? The Hawthorne Corporation owned Tyke, but over 100 years earlier it was the Hawthorne Club of the Western Electric Company that organized the excursion that would lead to the S. S. Eastland disaster on the Chicago River. I'm glad that the public is much more aware of and ultimately opposed to the animal cruelty that existed for so long. While I enjoyed seeing circus animals performing as a child, I'm appalled to know how so many were treated.

[@kayrmet]

This is so sad. Respect for animals is imperative

[@nancycurtis7315]

My sister's had a photo of them on an elephant ride at Melbourne zoo. 70 years ago. Before I was born. They had stopped by then, thank goodness. I remember the days of tiny cages then. Very different now.

[@bradallen8909]

*Sisters, dumbass.

[@xtremenortherner]

Ever been on a farm?? Most any farmer will tell you NEVER turn your back on a large animal. Even such domesticated animals like cows, pigs, or horses can become dangerous if alarmed..., we all know the hazards around bulls. Dogs bite & sometimes kill dozens worldwide, yet we persist in keeping them as pets. I'm not calling for a ban on dogs, but certain breeds are well known to become dangerous at times.

[@rayfinkle2805]

Bad attitude! I’d have a serious attitude problem if I was treated like she was for human entertainment 😡😡🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@klb374money]

My God!! What a horrible story . That poor elephant. My heart just broke for Tyke and the whole situation.

[@BrittneyDeShea420]

I remember this as I was a teenager at the time. It was so heartbreaking to see.

[@dinosaurwoman]

I have owned domesticated animals my entire life, worked as a vet tech, and have volunteered for animal welfare issues and worked with lobbyists and members of Congress. I am so glad to see the end of wild animals in circuses. The truth is these animals do not need to deal with the horrid amount of stress and pain that comes with it, even with "humane" training methods. Keep wild animals wild.

[@nickanthony214]

I also feel bad for Tyke’s family, as they assuredly mourned her loss.

[@Robtheredengine]

I knew you would be respectful my friend, thank you for not using a rather disturbing image in your thumbnail and a big thank you for not showing any footage of the fate of Tyke, ive seen that and it is painful to watch no one needs to see that.

[@nannerz1994]

1:38 me when anyone shows me any ounce of affection

[@weepingsheeps]

Caitlin Doughty has a wonderful video on this as well that takes a deeper dive! Glad to see one of my other favorite channels cover this poor girl’s story as well

[@GregAnderson-e1l]

We are growing as humans. Sometimes it's hard to see, but we are getting better.

[@Trund27]

May Tyke rest. She deserved so much better.