Three elephants escaped their enclosure and went on a stroll this past Saturday—through the employee parking lot of the St. Louis Moolah Shrine Circus.
Eyewitnesses told CNN that the elephants had become spooked by noises from the circus goers and managed to find a way out of their enclosure into the parking lot, where they were eventually rounded up by their handlers.
One handler tried to corral the elephants with food, Allie Tunncliff told KSDK.
“She yelled to one guy, ‘I need anything, just pretzels, any kind of food,’” Tunncliff said.
Dennis Burkholder, spokesperson for the St. Louis Shriners said that the elephants dinged two cars, which belong to circus employees, who are called Shriners and according to the St. Louis Moolah Shrine Circus website are men in “funny red hats, who drive little the yellow cars, dress like clowns, ride horses, march, ride motorcycles, and in general have a great time helping kids.”
On the website, it also states that you should “watch the elephants as they trumpet around the ‘Three Rings’” and that you can get up close and personal with the elephants “as you and your family can ride them.”
Although the elephants themselves were not harmed, they were given Saturday night off to rest and recuperate. On Sunday, the show went on.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
