Handler killed by elephant at Tennessee sanctuary
Posted on: Friday, 21 July 2006, 19:42 CDT
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - An elephant killed its female handler and injured a male handler at a Tennessee sanctuary on Friday, a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency official said.
The female handler died instantly after being stepped on or kicked by "Winkie," a 40-year-old, 7,600-pound female Asian elephant, and a second attendant received minor injuries when he tried to intervene, TWRA official Doug Markham said.
Both handlers were feeding the animals at the time, Markham said.
Winkie spent 30 years at a zoo in Madison, Wisconsin, where she gained a reputation as a dangerous elephant after hurting keepers and visitors. She was transferred in 2000 to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, about 85 miles southwest of Nashville, according to the sanctuary's Web site.
The 2,700-acre sanctuary, which is not open to the public, was founded in 1995 and is home to 19 elephants.
Source: REUTERS
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