When Jamie Lynn of Wisconsin woke up last Friday, she was stunned to see an elephant roaming around her neighborhood. Reportedly, the elephant named Kelly “escaped” from Circus World, where she regularly performs stunts and tricks.
Unlike Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus which retired its elephants last year, Circus World has said it is committed to keeping elephants in their shows. This decision was made, despite the fact that the pachyderms are incredibly intelligent and empathetic creatures.
When uploading the photos, Lynn added that the elephant seemed “friendly” and “content.” However, Kelly’s bout of freedom was short-lived. About twenty minutes after she escaped captivity, her trainer who had been alerted by authorities showed up to take Kelly back.
How Kelly managed to escape is the real news. Reportedly, she had a 40-year-old accomplice named Isla. Circus World’s executive director, Scott O’Donnell, told the Wisconsin State Journal:
“The elephant, Kelly, escaped with the help of an accomplice: Isla, another 40-ish female elephant, undid the latch that locked the door to the barn.”
“An elephant has about 100,000 muscles in its trunk, so they can get really good at playing around and picking at things,” he added.
Yep…..this is what happens in my neighborhood at 5am.
Posted by Jaime Lynn on Friday, June 30, 2017
When Kelly did escape, she found herself in an unnatural habitat and was shortly after returned to captivity. Perhaps one day, she and other elephants at Circus World will know what true freedom tastes like and no longer be forced to perform for human entertainment.
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