Elephant escapes circus, roams Butte, Montana, video shows

In a video posted on Facebook by a user named Brittany McGinnis, an onlooker can be heard saying: “There’s a big elephant walking down the road.” “Oh my God,” the sighting said The reporter said with a smile.

As the elephant wags its trunk and tail past vehicles on the street, a bystander in the film says: “Only Bart can. A circus elephant has escaped.”

The elephant escaped from the Jordan World Circus, which performed Tuesday at the Butte Civic Center, local media reported. The circus did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Wednesday.

Butte Civic Center Manager Bill Melvin told KXLF that a female statue temporarily escaped from the Jordan World Circus. He said the animal’s keeper was cleaning it outside the Civic Center when a passing vehicle backfired. Melvin said the elephant was frightened and then managed to break free.

At some point, the animal defecated on someone’s lawn, NBC Montana reported. The elephant was eventually captured and returned to the circus uninjured, KXLF reported.

Photos and videos of the elephants escaping quickly appeared on social media, triggering a range of reactions.

“This is crazy,” one person wrote. Another wrote: “This is probably the greatest freedom the elephant has ever had in his life.”

Despite the dramatic footage circulating, Melvin told Montana Daily the elephant’s escape “isn’t as dramatic as you might think.”

“Everyone got home safe and sound,” he said.

PETA said it filed a complaint with federal authorities over the “circus’ failure to protect” the elephants and the public.

The animal rights group also urged people not to buy tickets to any circus where elephants are forced to perform.

“Elephants learn important social and behavioral skills from their mothers and other relatives, with whom they have strong emotional bonds,” PETA said. “Instead of experiencing this in their natural home, elephants used in circuses are exploited – forced to perform meaningless circus acts on the road.”