Expert puzzled after reviewing elephant attack at Toledo Zoo

Anne Baker, left, executive director of the Toledo Zoo, and elephant expert Alan Roocroft discuss the incident Thursday in which an elephant injured a zoo worker. JETTA FRASER Enlarge

When Louie was born seven years ago, tilting the scales at 268 pounds, the first human voice the African elephant heard was that of Don RedFox.

The two have had near-daily contact ever since, creating an unusually tight bond.

Given the long-standing relationship, it's perplexing why Louie, now weighing 4,000 pounds, challenged Mr. RedFox on Thursday afternoon, resulting in serious injuries to the elephant manager.

Mr. RedFox, 53, of Swanton Township, suffered several broken ribs and a broken wrist and remained hospitalized Saturday in the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio Hospital. His condition was withheld.

Anne Baker, the zoo's executive director, said Saturday she had received no updated condition report but confirmed that Mr. RedFox had been in the intensive care unit on Friday.

Insights into the incident are expected to be provided by Mr. RedFox when his condition improves, said Alan Roocroft of San Diego, an internationally recognized elephant expert who has worked with the Toledo Zoo's elephant program for more than eight years.

Mr. RedFox and Louie had a pristine relationship, a close bond, much like a father-son relationship, said Mr. Roocroft who, at the zoo's request, has viewed a videotape of the 20-to-30-second interaction between Louie and the elephant manager.

Mr. Roocroft, who was present when Louie was born at the Toledo Zoo in 2003, said after viewing the video several times that he is puzzled by Louie's behavior.

He said Mr. RedFox and Louie were extremely close and that the two interacted several times a day. Mr. RedFox bathed and fed Louie. He cleaned the elephant's tusks and ears, akin to a parent tending to a young child.

It's heart-wrenching to think about that sort of a bond being broken, Mr. Roocroft said.

The videotape shows Mr. RedFox, carrying a bag of carrots, walking into the elephant's stall and down a sand alleyway toward Louie, Mr. Roocroft said. A startled Louie then challenges Mr. RedFox.

Louie's instinct apparently took over and he pushed Mr. RedFox, unlikely intending to cause serious harm, Mr. Roocroft said, noting, however, that a push from a 4,000-pound animal with tusks can cause severe injury, intentional or not.

After backing away from the injured Mr. RedFox, the elephant went into a crouching position, not like a tail-wagging dog but like an animal waiting for a response, Mr. Roocroft said. When the elephant backed away, Mr. RedFox walked out and sought help.

There's no way to know "what was going on in the young bull's mind," Mr. Roocroft said.

But Louie didn't appear to be an animal bent on destruction, he said, considering that, on the videotape, the elephant can be seen munching on scattered carrots that were dropped.

"I think it was just a fluke at this particular time," he said.

Further assessment will take place after Mr. Roocroft talks with Mr. RedFox about how he interpreted Louie's behavior.

Ms. Baker said it would be her recommendation for Louie to remain in protected contact in which the elephant is cared for by keepers working outside the elephant's habitat.

Louie continues to be on exhibit along with his mother Renee and the zoo's other adult female elephant, Twiggy.

The zoo is assembling a team of zoo officials and elephant experts to investigate the incident. The inquiry likely will take a few weeks.

The Toledo incident drew criticism from In Defense of Animals, a San Rafael, Calif., animal rights group, which called on the Toledo Zoo to switch to safer training methods for its elephants.

Zoo officials said Mr. RedFox violated zoo protocol by entering the animal's enclosure alone. Protocol specifies that keepers always enter an animal's enclosure with another staff member.

Zoo officials have not yet spoken to Mr. RedFox about why he approached Louie unaccompanied, and Ms. Baker said it was premature to speculate about whether Mr. RedFox would be disciplined. "We know the what. We don't know the why," she said.

Zoo officials had planned to release the videotape of the incident to the media Saturday but decided not to do so after receiving a letter from an attorney for the RedFox family. The attorney said making the videotape public would violate Mr. RedFox's privacy rights and cause irreparable harm to the zoo worker and his family.

Contact Janet Romaker at:

jromaker@theblade.com

or 419-724-6006.