Exotic Animal Incident Report

Reported: Jan 31, 2005
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Animal: Asian Elephant
Animal Disposition: unknown

Facility Type: Circus
Facility Name: Tarzan Zerbini Circus

Category: Attack resulting in human death
Species: Elephant

Summary: An elephant fatally trampled her trainer while being loaded into a truck. The trainer died after being taken to the hospital with critical chest injuries. The elephant, owned by Tarzan Zerbini Circus, was hired to perform in the Fort Wayne Mizpah Shrine Temple’s annual circus at the time of the trampling. In a similar incident, another employee of the same circus was injured in 1995 when the elephant knocked him to the ground and stomped on his abdomen.

Source: Associated Press