Tyke

Today is the 14th anniversary of Tyke’s murder in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1994. She was an 8,000-pound female African elephant who was “owned” by John Cuneo and “performed” with Circus International. During a performance in front of hundreds of paying spectators she crushed her trainer to death and bolted from the arena running through downtown streets of Kakaako for more than thirty minutes. Police fired 86 shots into her before she collapsed and died from the wounds.

The Star-Bulletin reports

Cuneo was fined $12,500 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after he was charged with two violations of the Animal Welfare Act in the Tyke rampage.