Zoo video lessons

SINCE it was released this week, the video that shows a young elephant at the Toledo Zoo injuring his handler has been viewed more than 20,000 times. Watching the attack is instructive in several ways. It also raises important questions.

In the video, elephant handler Don RedFox enters Louie's stall twice. The first time, he's carrying treats for the 7-year-old bull elephant, which appears startled and acts aggressively toward the handler he has known since birth.

Mr. RedFox retreats from the cage, returning moments later with a hooked stick used in elephant training. The young bull turns his back on the handler, but when Mr. RedFox touches Louie with the stick, called an elephant guide or bullhook, the elephant pushes him against a wall of the enclosure, backs off, then moves forward again, crushing Mr. RedFox against the wall. When Louie backs off a second time, the handler is able to stumble out of the cage.

The video, while disturbing, is neither graphic nor an invasion of privacy. It should have been released immediately rather than initially blocked from public view by a court order.

Clearly, Mr. RedFox failed to follow zoo protocol that required a second trainer to be present when he entered the elephant's cage. His reason for doing so cannot be known until he has recovered sufficiently from his injuries to be interviewed.

The video also serves as a reminder to the public that the animals we keep in zoos for our entertainment and instruction are dangerous and unpredictable - even to those best trained to handle them.

That, however, brings up a question zoo officials will have to answer: Why did a highly trained and experienced elephant handler ignore the overt signs that the young bull was in no mood for human company? Entering the elephant's cage alone once was a breach of protocol. Entering a second time, after Louie acted aggressively, suggests a lack of either sufficient training or good judgment.

There are other questions the public has a right to have answered. Did Mr. RedFox make a habit of ignoring zoo protocols? Do other handlers ignore the rules that govern contact with animals? Do zoo officials review surveillance tapes to make sure proper procedures are followed?

The video adds to the debate over whether handlers should have only protected contact with zoo animals. As Louie demonstrated, a handler, even with a bullhook, is no match for even a preadolescent elephant.

We may never know why Louie reacted violently to Mr. RedFox. Toledo Zoo executive director Anne Baker suggested it might have been the result of raging hormones as the young bull approaches adolescence. An elephant expert from California speculated that Louie could have been frustrated because he was separated from his mother. In any event, the attack lends fuel to those who believe these highly intelligent creatures with complex social lives should not be kept in captivity at all.

The release of the video has encouraged many people to examine these questions more closely. Answering them can only result in safer, more humane zoos.