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.

Read the entire article here.