The sound of a vehicle backfiring spooked a circus elephant while she was getting a pre-show bath in Butte, Montana, leading the pachyderm to break through a fence and take a brief walk, stopping noontime traffic on the city’s busiest street before being loaded back into a trailer.
Viola, an Asian elephant with the Jordan World Circus, still participated in two performances Tuesday after her time on the lam in the southwestern Montana city of about 35,000 people that in the late 1800s was the world’s largest copper-producing area.
Viola was getting a bath behind the Butte Civic Center just after noon on Tuesday when she was startled, Civic Center manager Bill Melvin said.
She went through a “kind of rickety” fence and went onto Harrison Avenue, a four-lane street, stopping traffic and causing folks to pull out their cellphones to take photos and video. Viola walked about half a block in the road before turning into the parking lot of a convenience store and casino, Melvin said.
New Jersey and union ask judge to dismiss anti
Discharge is against right to clean environment, activist says
Chile to recall ambassador from Venezuela for consultations
Premier calls on Europe to provide fair business environment
Foreign Ministry urges US to conduct swift probe into San Francisco consulate car crash
Several Iranian airports cancel flights until Monday
FM: Mutual respect key to ties
PGA Tour goes to Dallas for same course and new title. LIV Golf plays in Singapore
Multiple indicators signal upward trend in Chinese economy