Charging elephant injures circus worker
Image - Belfast Telegraph
Justino Munios, a circus worker of the Courtney Brothers Circus (currently in Blackpool, County Cork), has been hospitalised and is in critical condition after an elephant charged at a second elephant in a circus holding area and one of them landed on him after it subsequently collapsed.
This is not the first incident concerning the elephants of the Courtney Brothers Circus. The circus was not able to confirm if either of the elephants involved was Baby, a 2.5 tonne male elephant who achieved notoriety after footage of his escape and subsequent attempts to recapture him was widely broadcast and went viral online.
General Manager of the Circus Jim Conway has raised the possibility that the incidents could stem from some manner of interference. "There could be more to this. Since we came to Cork we have had two incidents. We have called in vets and asked them to take blood samples. We have our suspicions and have asked An Garda [Police] to investigate. There is something not right about all of this.” said Mr Conway.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
