Blaisdell Center for yet another show.īut Tyke had other plans. The 21-year-old animal was soon ushered into the Neal S. After several performances on the mainland United States, Tyke had been shipped to Honolulu. Unfortunately, that fateful day in 1994 saw the streets of Hawaii run red with elephant blood. ![]() ![]() But it was only a matter of time before she fought back. Sadly, she then endured years of abuse by her handlers. Shipped to the United States, Tyke was quickly sold off to the Hawthorn Corporation - a company that supplied animals to circuses. Moore wanted to film at the landfill, but the city said no, adding that no one remembered exactly where Tyke was dumped.Wikimedia Commons After she fled the circus arena, Tyke the elephant ran wild on the streets of Honolulu.Ĭaptured from Mozambique as a baby in 1973, Tyke the elephant was trained as a circus animal from an early age. Was with the city truck driver who was ordered to load Tyke onto aįlatbed truck and take her to the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Nanakuli. The documentary includes multiple eyewitness accounts of Tyke’sįinal outburst, but one of the most remarkable interviews for Moore Of screening to an audience familiar with Tyke. Recently contacted the Hawaii International Film Festival with the hope The Tribeca Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Festival, and Submitted the 78minute documentary to several film festivals, including Owner kept sending Tyke out to make money - or they had some sort ofĪwakening about the kind of training that animals received in the “They were either angry that she was allowed to perform - the “The people who agreed to participate in the film had all, to someĭegree, questions about what happened in the Tyke incident,” Moore One former elephant groom even recalls warning Campbell to be careful around Tyke. Months laterĪt the North Dakota State Fair in Minot, Tyke nearly killed a man. In Altoona, Pa., police were ready to gun her down. With her tusk - until he cut it off - to the elephant bolting from two The signs of impending violence ranged from Tyke rubbing a trainer The trainers and handlers described a troubled, strong-willed animal that rebelled in the face of what Moore called “rough and often brutal treatment.” “The Tyke incident was the worst blemish in the history of the American circus industry.” Mention the name Tyke, it is guaranteed to get the door shut in yourįace,” Moore said. “Quite frankly, to most people in the circus industry if you Trying to make an animal rights propaganda film. The filmmaker and his team repeatedly stressed they were not Getting those who worked with Tyke to discuss what happened wasn’t easy, Moore With rifles, some onlookers screamed at them to stop while others threw When police brought her down, firing at her It traumatized Honolulu.Īfter crushing her trainer, Allen Campbell, the elephant fled through Rampage occurred on the last day of the circus. ![]() Tyke was in Honolulu with Circus International and her Aug. “I almost couldn’t believe what I was watching when the tape began playing. To create Tyke as the protagonist, as the central character of theįilm,” Moore said. “They are evocative, beautiful shots of Tyke, and that really allowed us Harbor and the Blaisdell as well as closeups of her dark, weary eyes. This time, the cameras captured Tyke’s peaceful arrival at Honolulu But it sets the tone with uneditedįootage Moore found in the Hawaii News Now archives in 2012. Is directing and producing with his wife, Susan Lambert, andĬo-producer Megan McMurchy - includes interviews with the trainers and Moore says his documentary, “Tyke Elephant Outlaw,” is a redemptive drama filled with trauma, outrage, insight and compassion. News footage that helps transform Tyke from an angry killer to a tragicįigure. “Up to this point, I think Tyke has been largely perceived as either a bad seed or an incomprehensible force of nature,” Moore said.īut to his great surprise, the filmmaker discovered never-before-seen Tyke had crushed her trainer to death on the floor of the BlaisdellĪrena as parents and children screamed. Police there were ready to gun her down but Taylor safely retrieved her. Trainer Tyrone Taylor after escaping from a performance in Altoona, Pa. The elephant who rampaged through Honolulu, is pictured with former When he decided to tell the story of Tyke, the circus elephant that rampaged through Honolulu in 1994, documentary filmmaker Stefan Moore knew the collective memory of that event was overwhelmingly negative.
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