Tyke Elephant Outlaw (2015) Movie Script

Allen came into the barn,

and I said,

'Allen, the only thing

I can really tell you is,

she shouldn't be doing this,

and you need to be careful.'

I even said to the owner then,

'She's not good for this,'

you know?

'She's not good for this.'

I told Allen

not to take Tyke on the road

when he came

to pick up that herd.

I told him

he should leave Tyke behind.

It was a beautiful day,

and I wanted to see

the famous circus.

[growls]

I was seven years old,

and I was kind of excited

because a circus never really

comes to Hawaii.

So we were all excited,

you know?

Couldn't wait for it to start.

[whistle blows,

circus music starts]

When we went to the circus,

my son told the usher that

it was my birthday,

so she specially ushered us

to the front seat.

We had really good seats.

We were, like, up front.

The next thing I remember is,

I'm crossing my fingers

that the elephant show

will start.

It was either a high-wire

or a trapeze act before,

because I remember,

I was watching and it ended,

and there was some sort of

announcement going on,

or a fanfare or something,

and a loud trumpet.

Tyke was making noise.

She wouldn't come out.

She was just shaking herself.

I saw this beige form

moving around on the ground

behind the curtain.

Then, it came

flying through the curtain

followed by the elephant.

I was watching it.

I watched the elephant pick

him up, toss him back down

and roll him

all the way out the curtain.

I thought it was a dummy,

because it was very floppy.

There was no angles to it,

like elbows or knees,

it was all very fluid.

Then when he came out

is when we released,

'Oh, my God,

he's not playing with a doll,

it's his trainer.'

WOMAN: Oh, my God.

Oh, my goodness!

There was a guy, he was in

a blue, sort of...his outfit.

It was his circus outfit,

a dark-blue outfit.

He's going,

'Stop, stop, stop!'

Put his arms around the head

of the elephant

and the elephant

pushed him down.

I saw the elephant go up,

and my daughter said,

'You know what, Mom? I think

it's time for us to leave.'

I remember the announcement -

'Ladies and gentlemen,

please remain in your seats.

Everything is under control.'

And I thought to myself,

it clearly was not.

Then the elephant started

running kind of randomly

around the arena, so it's -

'This this is getting out

of control. What's going on?'

And the elephant started

coming towards us,

directly straight towards

where we were sitting.

We were standing already,

with our children in our arms.

We went down the stairs

and went out.

All of a sudden, a woman

yelled, a woman and a man -

'Get out, get out!'

I was so confused,

I didn't know what to do.

WOMAN: Oh, my God.

I could hear somebody going,

'He's right behind of us!

He's right behind of us!'

[elephant trumpets]

Next thing I know, we got hit,

down, knocked on the ground.

Then I hear this big 'boom!'

I looked to the side,

and there was the elephant.

She looks at elephant Tyke

and she says, 'Go away!'

She goes, 'You leave my

grandma alone. Go away!'

We came out,

and we're standing about here,

holding our two children,

and the elephant came

bang through.

I noticed

the thing was bent out,

and the elephant was

right there, going like...

We took our children

and ran this way.

I turned back and saw that

the elephant had turned

and went that way.

ANNOUNCER: If there's anyone

that needs medical assistance,

please let us know

at this time.

There was blood

all over the floor.

It still didn't hit me,

what had really happened.

MAN ON POLICE RADIO: We need

two ambulances right away.

OPERATOR: OK.

- Two people were crushed.

- Two people crushed?

- Yes, crushed.

WOMAN ON POLICE RADIO:

We've got people

who were trampled by elephants

and people who are

going through great shock.

CALLER: Yeah. Kicked

the trainer almost to death.

Before I knew it, I was

in the arena in a stretcher.

REPORTER: It started off as

a day at the circus.

Then,

before horrified spectators,

an elephant went wild,

trampling its trainers

and escaping into the streets

near the Blaisdell Arena.

One person was killed. Police

say nine people were injured,

and at least three others were

taken to local hospitals.

REPORTER 2: His handler was

37-year-old Allen Campbell,

who gave his life

to save his young assistant.

REPORTER 3:

The African elephant's owner

is struggling to understand

what caused it to suddenly

become so agitated.

REPORTER 4: Police radios

caught the frantic yells

of Honolulu patrolmen,

as Tyke went on her tear

through Kaka'ako.

POLICE OVER RADIO: Do you want

us to shoot the elephant?

SERGEANT OVER RADIO: Negative.

On the police scanner,

we hear,

'Elephant on the loose

in Kaka'ako,

heading toward Queen Street.'

And we all stopped and looked

at each other, thinking,

'Did we just hear "elephant?"'

So my photographer and I

drove up this way.

He dropped me off right here,

on the corner of Ward

and Queen.

I was just

coming down Ward Avenue

and turned onto the street,

and when

I got onto this street,

I saw the elephant

coming down the road here

with the police officers

behind.

I took my shoes off, and I ran

with my nylon stockings

down that street,

looking for the elephant.

Came up to the corner

and kind of looked, you know -

'What's going on?'

I saw the elephant chasing

a person around in the lot,

really, really agitated.

The person was running,

dancing around the car.

The elephant was moving fast,

the person was moving

a little faster.

MAN: Look out! Run!

I remember glancing out my

window, and I see an elephant,

going in circles,

around and around.

I thought,

'Something's wrong.'

MAN: Watch out!

I see this gentleman try to

close the wire gate on Tyke,

and she just knocks it open

like it's nothing.

Whoa, whoa!

And Tyke just goes after him.

It's clear that

he was in danger.

I saw a police officer

raise his pistol

and fire the first shot.

[gunshots]

REPORTER: Those were

the first shots fired.

From there, she made her way

through the streets

of Kaka'ako.

I'm screaming, 'No!'

[car tires screech]

[siren]

And as we rounded the corner,

we saw just an army

of SWAT-team members

and police and fire trucks.

We were told to stay back,

so we sat basically

behind the police cars.

We saw Tyke right there,

sitting up.

She was sitting up,

and I just saw her trunk,

flailing back and forth,

because she was swatting away

the barrage of bullets

coming her way.

REPORTER: We're told

circus officials had tried

to tranquilize the animal,

but it just didn't work,

and when the public safety

became an issue,

the police did

what they had to do.

NEWSCASTER: Right now,

we have a live report

from our reporter

at the scene.

Dick, right now,

they're preparing

to shoot the elephant again.

They're behind us,

behind the crowd.

What they're trying to do is

clear the area

before

they shoot the elephant.

The elephant is down.

When I got on the scene,

he was chasing the owner

of the pig review.

[gunshots]

Those are shots, I think.

WOMAN: Come over here, girls.

[shooting continues]

People were praying, people

were just silently sobbing.

Um... I heard, I think, a

child's voice here and there -

'What's happening?'

REPORTER: William Dallas

Beckwith looked dead

as the angry elephant, Tyke,

tossed his lifeless body

from side to side, but

he's very much on his feet,

with only cuts and bruises,

no broken bones

and no internal injuries.

The only one that really could

get through to the elephant

was already put down

by the elephant.

No-one else could ever

get to that elephant,

so there was no use in trying.

REPORTER:

Beckwith has been working for

the Hawthorn Corporation,

the elephant's owner,

for about a month.

He was Campbell's assistant.

Tonight,

the elephant's owner says

the animal has never

been a problem before.

What made it go so out

of control, kill its handler,

then trample people

and property on city streets?

I have had elephants

since 1954.

This is 1994,

and have never, ever once

had an elephant go loose

or go after somebody in

a building in all those years.

REPORTER:

Among today's claims,

that there were

previous incidents with Tyke,

and circus officials

should have been aware

of the potential dangers here.

In Minot, North Dakota,

an elephant named Tyke

belonging to

the Hawthorn Group,

again got out of control

and had to be contained.

Prior to that, in Altoona,

Pennsylvania,

an elephant named Tyke

broke loose from her chains,

ran around the arena

until she was controlled.

REPORTER: Animal Rights Hawaii

wants the court

and city officials

to ban animal performances

in the future.

[trainers shout commands]

My first encounter with Tyke,

I walked into the barn.

Mr Cuneo was

showing me the herd.

She turned, ears out,

picked up a mouthful of hay,

or trunkful of hay,

and threw it at me.

And I said, 'Uh-oh.'

Mr Cuneo downplayed it -

'Oh, Tyke.

She does that with everyone.

She's just

getting to know you.'

And I looked at that elephant,

and I said, 'Uh-oh.'

This is me with Tyke

and Jackie in Japan in '89.

She was a pretty fair size

back then. I'm 5'8".

I'd say right there, she'd

have been over 7 feet tall.

She knew her tricks,

and she did everything.

She was

a pretty versatile elephant.

She'd throw the balls

and catch batons

and ring the bell, and

she used to ride a tricycle,

which she got too big for.

Um, she was a good little

working elephant, you know?

Tyke was

one of the performers,

so she would only

be brought over

to my side of the barn

periodically.

But when she was brought over,

I couldn't even go in

the room with my elephants

because she'd charge me.

She'd have her ears out.

She was...

she was an unhappy camper.

When she was over there,

I just didn't go in.

I threw hay

from the other side.

She had quite an attitude.

This is the last memento

of Tyke.

This is a piece from her tusk.

I took this from her to, let's

say, equal the playing field,

because I noticed she was

trying to use it on me.

As I walked by her,

she was a little bit more...

She only had one,

and it was on her left side.

She was a little bit more apt

to rub me with this tusk.

This tusk hit me

before her skin,

before I felt her skin

touching me, and she knew it.

She'd put a bit more pressure

to push with this tusk.

So I said, 'OK, we have to

equal the playing field.'

Once I took that from her,

she became a better elephant

for me.

I moved to Venice

because of the connection

with the circus.

I spent 30 years or so

involved with

Ringling Brothers.

This was their winter home.

We'd spend ten months

out on tour,

then come down to here

for three months,

then start it all over again.

I mean, I can't go anywhere

without remembering something

that went on back when

I was 18, 19 years old.

I've been coming here

since I was a kid.

I'm constantly walking in,

you know, memories.

My mother asked me to take

my siblings to the circus.

The circus was in town.

I knew nothing about circus,

really, and what goes on.

So I took them to the show,

and that was my first time.

The last act to come on was

the elephant act,

and that's what did it.

That's what did it.

It was the elephant act.

The music was jamming,

the elephants were moving.

Seeing Gunther Gebel-Williams,

it was one big party,

and I wanted to be

a part of it.

It was the magic

of Gunther Gebel-Williams.

It was something about him

that made me say,

'I want to work with

those animals

because of this gentleman.'

The way he

handled the animals,

I wanted to be

a part of his crew,

and I ran away with the circus

that night.

But from the moment

I joined the circus,

I'd always been 'nigger this'

and 'nigger that'.

'Black men don't work here.

Black men will never be...'

I was 18 years old,

and I stood up,

sick of all the negative,

and I said,

'I'm going to be the first

black animal trainer

around here.'

Fast forward 15 years, I was

the boss's right-hand man.

I was

working with all the animals

that he was working with.

My first job was

with Hawthorn Corporation.

I was a trainer for them.

I was in charge of trucking

them around, their safety,

their welfare, their food.

Anything and everything

about the herd was all on me.

REPORTER: Tyrone Taylor is

living his dream,

performing and traveling

from city to city

with his herd of elephants.

He's one of only 100 elephant

trainers in the country.

Intelligence is important,

and the desire.

I love this work. This is not

work to me, this is playing.

TYRONE: Mr Cuneo's elephants

were known as bad elephants,

'bad' meaning disposition.

He had some tough elephants.

You had to be really firm

with them to get around them.

We had Tyke, Jackie, Haddie

and Queenie.

Tyke and Jackie

were the African,

and Queenie and Haddie

were my two Asians.

Tyke was temperamental.

I enjoyed working with her.

She was very...

At the point

I had taken over with her,

she was, I'd say,

very gun-shy, very touchy.

She was instantly expecting

some type of discipline,

and I saw that in her.

I saw that.

I had to read this elephant.

I had to rediscover everything

about this elephant,

because no-one told me

anything about her.

I was the compound manager,

and I was also in charge

of taking care

of the breeding bull

that they had.

When the acts were in, they

all were lined up and chained

in the barn.

Other than getting practice,

they stayed chained up

22 hours a day...

..not being able to wander

around and visit and interact

and do all the tactile stuff

that elephants do so much of

in their daily lives

with each other.

They just weren't able

to be elephants at all.

They were

little pets on a string

that people wanted them to be.

I was one of the very few

women

that were working elephants

at that time.

It was testosterone-fueled.

It was guys being tough,

being macho -

'I can beat up

a full-grown elephant.

I can bring a full-grown

elephant to their knees.'

It was just more the culture

back then.

They would be beaten until

the elephants were screaming,

until they gave up whatever

behavior they were doing

or not doing.

[man shouts,

elephant trumpets]

Tyke, she required

a lot more discipline

because she was strong-willed.

She just fought tooth and nail

to not have to do

what she was doing.

She required a lot more...

..work - 'tuning up'

is what they used to call it -

than some of the others.

Just a lot of discipline,

heavy-handed discipline.

A lot of spankings.

It was ugly, it was ugly.

Things have happened

in her lifetime,

and she has kept those

thoughts.

She's a very smart elephant.

She kept all that with her.

Being as large as she is, if

she was afraid of something

or something wasn't going

her way, she would just leave.

She would step out. That's

what I mean, 'stepping off.'

She would leave.

REPORTER:

An African elephant named Tyke

went wild

before a circus performance.

The elephant burst through

the doors of the Jaffa Mosque,

where the circus was

performing,

causing about $12,000

in damage.

TYRONE: Altoona, Pennsylvania.

We get there, and

another trainer had came in

to see if I needed any help.

He was in the same

organization.

We were both

in the Hawthorn Corporation.

His groom,

the trainer's groom,

was really agitating

my elephant that day.

She wasn't having any of it,

and she decided to go run

around and run through doors.

The police were called out.

I believe they were

going to shoot her.

They wanted me

to step away from her.

They were telling me

to step away,

and they had firearms out.

There was no way for her

to get back in the building.

She's on a two-story overhang.

What are we going to do?

Well, my job is

not to leave my animal.

I was not going to

leave my animal.

I was going to get her back

to where she needed to be.

And we did all right.

We got her back to the barn

and taken care of and put her

away, and everything was good.

No-one was hurt,

but she did run.

She did cause a spectacle

and she did run.

Then I knew she was a runner.

I think the first time I heard

of Tyke was in 1993.

Someone

from the Humane Society

in Altoona, Pennsylvania

called us,

said an elephant had crashed

out of an indoor arena.

knocked out some doors,

wound up out on

a loading dock,

and it took them

a couple of hours

to get her under control.

Luckily, it was a loading dock

and she couldn't step off.

If it had been a street

out there,

she would have been gone.

It would have happened

in Altoona instead of Hawaii.

The person from

the Humane Society asked me

what they should do.

Of course, I said, 'Don't ever

let her perform again.

She's an African.

She did that once,

she's going to do it again.'

Africans just don't

put up with

what Asians put up with

for so long.

That's what people don't know

about elephants -

they're just dangerous.

You have a false sense

of security somehow

in a performing situation.

I know probably

as much as anybody

about how they act

and what they do,

and they'll always

surprise you.

Something that

you don't expect

could easily happen

at any time.

After Altoona,

I even said to the owner then,

'She's not good for this,'

you know?

'She's not good for this.'

This was my personal opinion

from what I see

and also from my history.

I've worked Africans.

I've been taught how to do all

this from a great trainer.

I was expressing that I don't

think she's good for this,

but I was being dismissed as,

I don't know

what I'm talking about.

'You just need to be firmer.

You need to be heavier.

You need to get her

back in there,

and this is how you do it.'

Over at Hawthorn,

they had a reputation for

heavy-handed training.

A lot of the trainers were

old-school trainers.

They'd been around.

They'd come through the ranks

because they've had their

families in this business.

It's passed down,

generation to generation.

JOHNNY WALKER:

I was born in the business,

fourth generation.

My parents worked with

animals.

My dad was in concessions,

my mom was an aerialist.

I knew in third grade

I wanted to work elephants.

I wanted to make it my life.

RINGMASTER: The biggest

performers of them all,

the Walker Brothers Circus

performing elephants!

I was taught how

to use a bullhook, you know?

Most gentlemen...

You cue with your right hand,

you carry the bullhook

in your left hand.

You're cueing them by voice.

If there's a problem,

the elephant's getting lazy,

instead of skipping,

it's going to -

'I don't feel like doing this

today,'

maybe you'll take the bullhook

and shift it

to your right hand,

then they see

you moving the bullhook.

Not just me.

You could take certain

trainers that I grew up with

could go in to Tyke and

work her the same way I did.

There's just a certain

discipline that you've got

and a certain way

you work elephants, you know?

Then you have certain trainers

that came in that...

Like I said,

I didn't know Allen.

I didn't know this Tyrone.

I didn't know

any of these guys.

I grew up with a certain era

of trainers,

then these guys

came along, you know?

When I'm affectionate with

my animal, with my elephant,

it's all hands-on,

it's all love.

It's all here - it's under

the leg, it's behind the ear.

It's showing them all this

love they're going to get.

They get that from each other,

from their touches,

so I have to be more hands-on

and physical,

and not just light touches,

I'm giving hands-on.

I'm letting them know, 'You're

elephant, I'm elephant.

It's good.' Even through my

tone of voice - 'It's good.'

A lot of my work is done

from over here.

I don't have to come across

unless I really need

to catch an ear.

Remember, that's elephant.

That's ten foot tall.

How am I going to

get her head down?

Put it at the top, head down.

She'll bring head down.

If I have this

and I just want to move

and I don't want

to bring the hook out,

then I can say, 'Move. Move,

move, move. Move back.

Come in line. Come in line.'

Voice changes.

'Come in line.

All right, come in line.

Trunk, trunk!

All right.

Move up tail, move up tail!'

Then we move out.

Everything has changed.

Now we become elephant.

We step hard.

Because elephants,

even though they step light,

they're stepping hard.

SALLY: Elephants are big and

they can be very dangerous.

The theory back then was,

as long as

they are afraid of you,

they're not going to

do anything.

I was told that

you had to use a hook.

You had to be tough with them.

You had to beat them up

if they showed

any kind of reluctance

to do what you wanted.

If you happened to have

an elephant

that was strong-willed

and spirited,

they were the ones that were

going to give you trouble

because they thought about it.

They looked at you and went,

'You know, you're full of it.

I don't have to

do what you say.

I'm 10,000lbs, you're not.

That little stick

is not going to help you any.'

And elephants are methodical.

Asian elephants will

wait for years to kill you

if they are so inclined.

They hold a grudge.

They have long memories.

African elephants too.

They're very bright,

they're very intelligent.

They will remember you

forever,

whether it's good or bad,

and you better hope that

they're thinking good thoughts

if you're having to go in

with them again.

Ty!

Ty?

I went through several grooms

that Mr Cuneo gave me,

but I knew I needed only one.

My groom was Warren Wilkinson.

He's a gentleman

that I've known

since he was, like,

nine years old.

I told you I ain't changed,

bro.

I told you I ain't changed.

- How you been?

- Oh, man!

It's been a long time.

WARREN:

I trust Tyrone with my life.

I've known him my whole life.

At Hawthorn, first thing he

did was, he brought me over,

let me see the elephants,

explained to me

a little bit about them.

Gave me the run-down that they

were different than

the animals

I was used to working with,

that they were a lot more

aggressive.

This was, like,

the raw days right here.

This is my first act.

Oh, my God.

Dude, this is crazy,

watching this.

TYRONE: Tyke, Tyke!

I'm constantly yelling 'Tyke,'

even if I'm working with

the other elephants.

I yell back, 'Tyke, Tyke!'

so that she knows that

I'm constantly watching her.

Right there.

WARREN: Yeah,

she hesitated a little bit.

TYRONE: Backing off. You've

got to see it ahead of time.

She doesn't get up

like the others.

She's always backing out.

She doesn't move as fast

as the others,

and this is not because of

physical ailment,

it's just her personality.

She's a little defiant.

WARREN: And stubborn.

You've still got to give her

credit, 'cause she still did.

She might have hesitated,

might have stepped out

every now and then

- but she did a good job.

- She was a smart elephant.

TYRONE: She was very good.

WARREN: I loved that trick.

TYRONE: That's why

John Cuneo loved it.

Yeah. She thought she was

in trouble right there.

She missed the baton,

then she shied away,

thinking she was in trouble.

WARREN:

Because nine out of ten...

TYRONE:

She probably would have been.

Someone would have gave her

some reprimand

for them

throwing the baton wrong.

WARREN: That's what I miss,

right there.

I'm telling you, dude,

I loved when she did that.

In the past - I really believe

this, from her past -

she thought she was in for

some type of big trouble

once she got back to the line

because of everything

she was doing in the act,

all these little things.

WARREN: Oh, yeah.

TYRONE: Remember that day?

This is where she decides

to go in her own direction

and step out of the herd.

This is a potential danger

right here.

She knows what she's doing.

She knew she had done things

in the act,

and she knew she could

face reprimand

inside the picket line.

In the back of my mind,

it was a thought that

she could potentially run,

hurting someone,

at any given point, could

bolt out and do some damage.

I didn't feel it was necessary

for her to be there

because of

the potential danger already

that she was showing me.

I knew that

something could happen.

TYRONE: Minot, North Dakota.

It was an outside date.

That means our ring was set up

outside.

We were at a fairground.

Mr Cuneo had sent out

another groom for me.

He says,

'You need another groom,'

and I said, 'I don't.'

I had Warren, I had my groom,

and I didn't need

another groom.

He was persistent on

working with Tyke,

and no-one works with Tyke

but me.

I don't need anyone

messing with Tyke

or doing anything

getting her attention.

And this gentleman proceeded

to keep calling her name.

I told the gentleman,

'Don't say anything.

Just stand there.

Don't say a word.'

But he was persistent on just

calling her name,

letting it be known,

'I know that elephant.

I know how to handle Tyke.

I know what to do with Tyke.'

Everyone that came from that

organization thought they knew

what to do with Tyke.

It was the wrong thing to do.

That particular time, she

waited until the right time,

and she went after the guy.

I just heard Ty

calling Tyke's name.

I turned around,

and that's when I seen Tyke

attacking Mike Pursley.

She turned and knocked him

into a portable dumpster.

We had a portable trash

container, huge container.

She pinned him up

against that container

and used her trunk to

grind him into that container

and used her trunk to knock

him down and go on him,

used the base of the trunk,

and had her trunk

wrapped around one ankle

and kept pulling him back.

She kicked him,

would pull him back to her,

kick him,

pull him back to her.

She did that probably

three or four times.

She was trying to kill him,

so I had to get her off.

What I did was, I stuck

my bullhook into her ear.

That's all I had.

There's no time

to wail and flail.

And that's when she took off

from Ty.

We were on a 20-minute chase

through Minot State fairground

for her.

Ty had Queenie. He yelled

for me to grab a chain.

I grabbed a chain

from underneath the truck,

put it around my neck

and we took off running.

She was trapped between some

buildings, wreaking havoc,

and I had to go in,

no-one but me.

He passed Queenie off to me.

He started going

toward the workshop.

I just called her real stern,

got her attention,

the same way I always had -

no discipline and opened up.

I knew

I had to sacrifice myself.

I had to just show her

no hook in hand.

Hook was over here,

but no hook in hand.

And she turned,

ears flared out.

I just started thinking,

'bad.'

I'm like,

'Now I'm going to have to

leave this elephant unattended

if he needs help.'

To my surprise, she just

walked right up to him.

She ran up to me

like a big dog,

and just towered above me

and let me give her all this

love and hugs.

And inside, I am scared.

I am just heart beating,

'cause she just tried

to kill someone.

And to, I think,

both our surprises,

she didn't give us

any problems.

She literally walked back

to the picket line,

and we chained them both up.

Once I got her back to the

herd and got her chained down,

I said, 'We're not going to

use her anymore.

I'm not going to

take her off these chains

unless it's to load her up and

bring her back to the line,

because it's too dangerous.

Thank God no-one was hurt.'

I mean, someone was hurt -

Mike was,

but no-one in the park.

While it was going on...

..I don't really want to say

it was scary,

because I really wasn't

thinking of it like that.

After it was all done and said

and me and Tyrone sat down,

that's when it hit me.

I won't lie to you,

that's when it hit me.

If I'm not mistaken,

I even told Tyrone,

like,

'Dude, that freaked me out.'

That was the last time,

in July.

July, yeah, '93,

was the last time I used her

in a performance.

I still had to go...

My contract ran through

September, October,

but I wouldn't use her.

I used just the three.

Despite Mr Cuneo

and us battling,

I just used the three.

I told him, 'This elephant is

going to kill someone.'

I just felt like she should be

in a sanctuary, zoo

or some type of establishment

that's just going to let her

be an elephant.

[ship's horn]

WARREN: Two days

before I left Hawthorn,

Allen came into the barn.

I was working in there

with the elephants.

He was like,

'If you work my Africans

the way you work these,

you'll be great.'

I said, 'Allen,

I'm not going to be here.'

He was like, 'You'll be here.'

I said, 'No, dude.

I've got to go to Florida.

I'm meeting up with Tyrone.

We're doing Ringling.

I'm not going to be here.'

'I'll see you in a couple

weeks.' 'Whatever, Allen.

The only thing

I can really tell you is,

she shouldn't be doing this,

and you need to be careful.'

His last words to me before he

walked out of the barn was,

'If she gets out of line,

my Africans will

get her back into line.'

I said, 'All right.

I wish you the best, man.'

He said, 'All right, I'll see

you in a couple weeks.'

I started laughing. I said,

'I'm not going to be here!'

He's like, 'All right,'

and he walked out of the barn.

The last I heard about Allen

was when I seen it

on the news.

SALLY: I told Allen not

to take Tyke on the road

when he came

to pick up that herd.

I told him

he should leave Tyke behind.

He laughed.

Typical macho reaction -

'Oh, no, I can handle it.

I can get a handle on her.'

He had the option.

She could have stayed.

I could have put her

in the bull barn

and she would have been fine.

But that wasn't an option.

The Hawthorn Corporation

did not offer that

as an option to Allen.

It was all or nothing.

Typically, the bookings that

Hawthorn Corporation made

were for an act

of so many elephants,

and if you didn't have

that many elephants,

that contract wasn't

going to be upheld.

The number of elephants was

paramount in the bookings.

WARREN: To Cuneo, they were

there to make him money.

To me,

money's not worth a life.

There's no amount of money

that can repay a life.

So I think he should have

been done had her off the road

doing that.

Before me and Tyrone

got to her,

he should have had her,

you know, away from that.

But you know, greed makes

people do stupid things.

[show music,

elephant trumpets]

ANNOUNCER:

Ladies and gentlemen,

please remain seated.

Please remain seated.

WOMAN: Oh, my gosh!

Oh, my gosh! That's...

Oh, boy!

Oh!

Oh, my gosh!

SALLY:

Allen wasn't ever the focus.

Allen was the by-product,

he was the by-catch.

He was collateral damage.

She wanted

to get rid of that groom.

Allen was trying to stop her.

She said, 'You know,

this isn't your fight,

but if you're going to

insist on it,

I'm going to make sure

you get out of my way

so I can finish

what I was doing.'

And then she stands,

she's looking,

she's got her ears up.

I'm sure she's listening

to the other elephants

that I'm sure are yelling

in the background.

Even if you can't hear it

on tape, there's no doubt

she's listening

to the other elephants.

She's trying to decide

what she's going to do,

and then that guy moves.

It's just a hair

that he moves,

but it's enough to bring

her attention back to him.

She didn't have a plan.

It's not like,

'I'm going to catch the bus'

or 'I've got a waiting car

for me

that's going to speed me off,

and we're going to live on the

lam in Mexico' or anything.

Just the natural flight

response triggered in her.

She knew she had to get out.

She wanted to get away

from it all.

She wanted to get away from

the noise,

the huge amounts of adrenaline

that were flowing everywhere

by that time in the arena.

She knew she was

in really big trouble,

and she knew she would

have been chained up,

she would have been beaten

a lot,

and she said, 'I'm going to

get out of Dodge,'

and took off.

[Tyke trumpets]

♪ MUUNGANO NATIONAL CHOIR:

Sanctus

[gunshot]

[sirens]

[shots echo]

She was shot 87 times.

She was shot all over

her body, in her eyes.

I remember that huge head

just leaning against the car.

It was heartbreaking

to see

such a majestic creature,

such a beautiful, huge,

gorgeous elephant

lying on the street

of Honolulu,

just lying on the street

of Honolulu

with that ridiculous

pink party hat on.

My boss called me,

and he said, 'Hey,

we've got to go

retrieve that elephant.'

I said, 'That elephant

that was on the news?'

He said,

'Yeah. I think they killed it.

It's down

in the Kaka'ako area.'

I said, 'Oh, my goodness!

They killed it?

Why did they kill it?'

He said, 'I don't know,

we just got the call.

We have to go

pick up the body.'

There was a car here,

just like how it is now.

She was lying down

on her right side

with her legs sticking out

across the road here.

I could see some blood

off of her.

I remember seeing, like,

a tear stain

coming from her eye.

I remember that, you know?

That struck me as

like she was crying -

'Why did they have to

kill me?' you know?

We had a front-end loader

come in here,

scooped her legs up,

slid the chain underneath,

secured it, did the same

for the back legs.

Then the operator in the crane

tightened up on the rigging.

Then I reversed my trailer

back under her body,

hanging up.

And then the crane operator

loaded her down on the deck.

We had a little tarp.

It wasn't much - just to

kind of cover her face.

We couldn't cover

her whole body.

Then we had a police escort.

We went up to the Halawa

industrial area,

where the quarantine station

is located,

and that's where

we took her body.

REPORTER: A family placed leis

right near the spot

where Tyke fell to her death.

Animal-rights groups had

a memorial service for Tyke

right where the female African

elephant was shot down.

REPORTER 2: Supporters

of Animal Rights Hawaii

returned to the site where

circus elephant, Tyke,

was gunned down.

The president of the group

says

the elephant is not to blame

for the tragedy.

She blames what she says is

the inhumane treatment

most circus animals receive.

They're shackled often 22

out of 24 hours,

are routinely deprived of food

and water,

made to wear

stupid costumes,

and this is considered

wholesome family fun?

In the days

following her death,

we worked very quickly,

and we scheduled

demonstrations.

We could see that this had

really made a difference.

So we decided that

we would go forward

and try to make sure that

this could not happen again.

REPORTER: Animal-rights groups

nationwide

are speaking out

about the circus incident.

REPORTER 2: Acting mayor,

Jeremy Harris, today said

he is thinking about

banning any circuses

featuring animal acts

from city facilities.

STEVEN KENDALL:

The Tyke incident

was an international incident.

This was going to

affect circuses worldwide.

This was

going to have an impact,

we thought

from the beginning,

not only on the smaller city

councils in the United States

but all across the world,

for that matter.

Don't go to the circus!

STEVEN: I'd worked

private investigations

for a number of years.

I drafted a proposal

for Ringling Brothers

to deal with

the animal-activist groups.

it started as something small

and became

a much larger issue.

REPORTER: For ten years, Steve

Kendall of Scott Township

spied on animal-rights groups

for Ringling Brothers

and other circuses.

I have a number of individuals

that are directly inside

animal-rights groups.

Some of them may be out there

protesting.

You're talking about

double agents?

I tried to make it look like

I was friendly

with some of them,

but at the same time, I was

gathering the information.

STEVEN:

They take them out of those.

MAN: They're still shackled

right now.

STEVEN: For the public safety.

MAN: You want

to take a walk? Just talk.

STEVEN: Good, I don't mind.

MAN: Let me do it to you

some time -

shackle you for 23 hours.

I'll let you walk around.

STEVEN: That's misinformation.

It's not 23 hours.

MAN: How many hours is it?

I'll use that from now on.

How many hours a day

are they shackled?

STEVEN: I can't give you

a direct figure.

MAN: How do you know?

Give me an estimate.

STEVEN: They take them out

every four hours.

I helped organize

counter demonstrations

against the animal-rights

activist groups.

Initially, we had to pay

individuals to come out,

because we needed to have

groups of people

that would at least be able

to get the attention

of the public

to show that

there were individuals

that supported the circus.

The animal-rights activists,

just ignore them.

Have a great time.

Throw it right in the garbage,

where it belongs.

Have a good time.

I look at the animal-rights

groups as being, at times,

a minority extremist group,

where their views are

going to be totally against

what the public wants, what

the circus industry wants,

and even, for the most part,

politicians.

I met with the Vice-President

of Ringling Brothers,

and he said, 'Steve,

we're going to need you

to go over to Hawaii

right away

to deal with the fallout from

this particular accident,'

and at the same time too,

deal immediately

with the city council

considering the fact that

the animal-activist groups

wanted to ban the use

of animals in entertainment

immediately after

this incident happened.

TYLER RALSTON: This building

here is Honolulu Hale.

This is where the city council

headquarters is.

It's where we did a lot

of the work with testifying

in favor of the bills

we were trying to get passed

that were geared at

banning live exotic animals

in performing shows, such as

circuses and traveling shows.

Chairman Felix,

members of the committee.

The animals most commonly used

in circuses

and other traveling

animal acts are wild,

and can behave instinctively

and unpredictably.

If they become out of control,

they are further punished,

up to and including death,

as we experienced with Tyke.

Prior to this event,

our animal-related position

had been that

we just said that animals that

are used in entertainment,

whether they be domestic

or wild animals that are used

in entertainment,

should be treated humanely.

That was our position.

After the Tyke incident

and relooking at

our position statement,

we really

came to the conclusion that

you couldn't

treat a wild animal humanely

in the entertainment business.

The circus industry will tell

you that

they are repositories

of endangered species.

USDA inspection records

of John Cuneo's elephants

show a dearth of even the most

basic husbandry records.

They will boast that

their animals perform

because they like to.

STEVEN: I remember them

as if it were yesterday.

Cathy Goeggel,

the ringleader, I'd say,

of Animal Rights Hawaii,

was a nasty individual.

She was not someone you could

talk with or reason with.

She had a one-track mind,

and that was to lash out

against anybody

that was opposed to

their point of view.

It was outrageous.

The industry,

the circus industry,

employs people to say that

everything is wonderful,

everything is great.

The elephants love

doing what they're doing.

It's like the emperor

has no clothes.

These animals are all trained

through positive

reinforcement.

There's a lot

of misconceptions

on how you get an animal

to perform a certain act.

When an elephant

stands on its hind legs,

this is something it does

naturally in the wild -

they reach branches off trees.

They also

stand on their hind legs

when they're engaging in

the act of sex.

The facts remain that

the animals don't do anything

other than what they do

in the wild,

and this is incorporated

into the acts.

I argued the fact that

the public had a right

to choose

whether or not they wanted

to see this type

of entertainment.

The fact is that

the circus had a history

going back hundreds of years,

and it's continued

to gather families

from across the nation

that come out and support the

circus and go to the shows.

Some would say the circus is

an old tradition,

it's part of American culture.

Slavery,

as well as child labor,

was an American tradition.

It was part

of American culture

and is now part

of American history.

And American history is where

exotic animals in

traveling shows needs to go.

When videos or information was

provided to the politicians,

it didn't seem

to make a difference,

or didn't seem

to get a result.

That's confusing to me.

I don't know why

that did happened that way.

I don't know why

we didn't end up with a result

that was more supportive

of the bills.

Well...

..I would say that

it involved a lot of money

and it's a business,

and that the argument that,

'It only happened one time'

might have prevailed.

On the other hand, we've never

had another elephant

come into this community.

So bill or no bill,

legislation or no legislation,

the outcome was and has been

that

there has been no elephant

coming back.

We have not had live circuses

with wild animals

allowed here.

It has not come back.

So ultimately, it did prevail.

ED STEWART: We agreed to take

Nicholas and Gypsy,

the two last elephants

that were at

the Hawthorn Corporation's

place in Illinois,

the same place where

Tyke came from.

If you guys want to take off,

you can go ahead now.

This is Nicholas,

the former circus elephant,

from Hawthorn Corporation.

HANDLER: Nick? Target.

MARGARET WHITTAKER: When we

started training Nicholas,

he was, of all the elephants

that I've been involved in

converting from free

to protected contact,

he was probably the most

afraid of the target

when we presented it.

He would turn and duck

his head and squint his eyes

like he was anticipating

being hit.

I think that's indicative of

the harsh training

that he received before.

He had that level of fear

of something on a stick.

That's a big, muddy foot.

When he comes in, he knows

nobody's ever

going to hit him here.

Are you thirsty?

I think he wants a warm drink.

If he doesn't want

to come to the wall

and he doesn't want to work

and he doesn't want

to present his foot or his ear

or his trunk or open his

mouth, he doesn't have to.

He can stay over there

or go back outside.

Nick, open.

Oh, where are you going?

Come here.

Nick, open.

Can I see that tooth?

Good boy.

Let me see.

There you go. Good boy, Nick.

Good boy! All right, Nick.

All right.

ED: Sometimes elephants

come in, they don't know even

that you can eat the grass,

that that's even an option,

because a lot of elephants

in captivity

have never been able

to walk on grass.

Behind me is Gypsy.

She was in the circus

her whole life, like Tyke.

Her life is different.

If she wants to go in the

lake, she can go in the lake.

If she wants

to scratch on a tree,

she can scratch on a tree.

If she wants

to dig her own mud hole,

she can dig her own mud hole

and roll in it.

Tyke could have been

right next to her.

I think in 50 years, we're

going to look back and say,

'Can you even believe that

we used to keep elephants

on chains and drag them

in trailers and trucks

and trains around the country

to ostensibly teach children

about elephants?'

It just is amazing to me

that it's happening

at this point in time.

But in 50 years,

in 10 years, hopefully,

it's not going to be around.

A lot has changed.

The times have changed.

Circuses have changed.

There's nothing going on much.

A lot of it's just memories.

This was actually

a safe haven.

There was never any

animal-rights activists here.

It was more like the city

council and all the higher-ups

really felt that it was too

much to have the circus.

This is the old

circus winter quarters.

We used to get the shows

together.

Ringling Brothers

started from here,

then went out on tour

for ten months,

then came back

at the end of the season.

This is the arena,

the big top,

where the performances were.

Inside here,

this is where they were held.

This is all that's left of it.

It's been stripped down.

All the seats, the outside

shell, everything taken off.

I'm grateful that the shell is

still standing, but it's sad.

We had a good time here.

Every time I look at it, I do

remember the good times

that we had here.

It was home. That's why

I never went home again.

[distant circus music

and show sounds]

ANNOUNCER:

Ladies and gentlemen,

your guest host for this

evening's performance.

[distant applause, cheering]

[blows whistle]

I'm from the old school,

so I feel that

animals really...

That's circus to me.

Circus is animals - liberty

acts, cat acts, elephant acts.

People love them.

You see that.

I look at the public when

they're watching my show.

You watch them when

the animals come out.

They love the animals.

They love to see them.

But these animal activists

and people like this,

they're not going to stop,

and when they're done with us,

I'm sure they're going to

start on pets.

People want elephants.

'Well, we're going to make

life so miserable for them

and hard, that they can't.'

They just keep chipping away.

I want elephants.

I do Shrine Circuses now.

If they had in their budget

for elephants,

I'd lease elephants

in a heartbeat.

ANNOUNCER:

We'd like to remind everybody

that we're going to be here

throughout the weekend.

We do have one more circus

performance today at 5:30.

Tomorrow, we only have one

performance at 3pm.

Tell all your friends and

neighbors to come on out

and come to the circus.

Ty and Tyke, they had some

kind of special connection.

We used to walk in that barn

in the morning

and he would

walk up to that elephant

and be like, 'Africa!'

She would lift her head up

and rumble.

Just watching it,

I could see the connection.

TYRONE: I loved that elephant.

There was something about her

that I connected with.

I liked the way

she showed me her affection.

She'd stand above me.

I'm 6'3", and this elephant's

standing...

I'm looking up underneath

her chin

when she stood above me.

She let me hug on her neck,

and...

She just let me be around her.

That's what I loved most

about her -

she'd let me be around her.

When I look back at it, if I

could have changed my life

and said elephants

wouldn't be involved,

it would be devastating.

The time I spent with

elephants was amazing,

just priceless.

There's no other animal

I've ever worked with

that can compare with

what I got

with working with elephants,

and the relationship.

There's nothing better than

being hugged by an elephant.

It's just the most wonderful,

warm...

When they take their trunk

and blow against your face

and they wrap their trunk

around you,

it's fabulous, wonderful.

But those days...

..are gone.

If I could have

worked elephants

without all the brutality,

that would have been fabulous,

absolutely fabulous.

And when I look back,

like I said,

I'm sure there's

a special place in hell for me

for what I did

to the elephants,

because that was what

I was told I had to do

to stay alive and to keep

those elephants in line.

But now I know

that was all nonsense.

ED: I'm probably the most

critical person of all

of our place here.

I don't drive through here

and think how nice it is that

they're eating grass,

I drive through and think,

'Why are they behind a fence?'

Our philosophy is that

elephants are not designed for

captivity at all.

You can do what you can

for them,

but you'll never match

what they should have

if they were in the wild.

People say, 'What do you think

went wrong,

why did Tyke do

such an unnatural thing?'

That's the first natural thing

that Tyke did in her life,

was to run.

She did it in Altoona, she

injured people in North Dakota

and finally, in Hawaii,

she acted like a real elephant

and said, 'I'm not supposed to

be here. I'm tired.'

Whatever excuse they gave -

somebody made a noise,

somebody walked behind her,

it's always

'somebody honked a horn' -

they always have some excuse

why elephants take off.

But Tyke,

on that final day of her life,

exhibited

real elephant behavior,

and it didn't fit

the streets of Hawaii.

Captions by CSI Australia

Tyke Elephant Outlaw (2015) - full transcript