[REXANO] Australia: cardiac arrest or elephant attack?

**Raven** · Site Admin Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 217

Stardust's Arna officially a killer
By Rhett Watson

January 04, 2008 12:30am

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Trainer worked with Arna three years
Heart complaint did not contribute to death
Injuries from 'severe blunt trauma'
ARNA the circus elephant is a killer with forensic evidence showing she crushed a worker to death.

Ray Williams had spent up to three years feeding and watering the Asian elephant, which has become synonymous with her owner the Stardust Circus.

An interim post-mortem examination report has revealed the 57-year-old's previous heart complaint did not contribute to his death at Yamba, on the North Coast, last week.

Instead, it found Mr Williams' injuries - a broken back and a ruptured aorta - were the result of a "severe blunt trauma". "The cause of death was a direct result of the elephant," the report states.

That result has drawn renewed attention from NSW Animal Liberation, which has promised to fight to have the four-tonne Arna removed from the circus and placed in the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo.

The group fought a protracted battle with the circus owners about seven years ago before allegations of animal cruelty were dismissed.

Mr Williams' death had been complicated by the possibility he suffered a cardiac arrest with Arna possibly trying to nudge him after the event. The pensioner had suffered a heart attack three weeks before the incident and had been taken to Lismore Base Hospital.

He died while he was in the elephant's enclosure not long after the circus had begun to set up in Yamba. Police would only confirm the post mortem examination results would be passed to the coroner, along with the results of the police investigation.

That investigation, along with one by NSW WorkCover, could determine Arna's future at the circus.

She and her partner Gigi were not used in the acts the night after the accident.

A spokesman for the Department of Primary Industries, which controls the circus's licence to keep exotic animals, said there was nothing restraining the circus from using the elephants at the moment.

Circus owner Jan Lennon told The Daily Telegraph last week that a possibility had remained that Arna had lashed out.

"If Ray was to go crook on Gigi she would get a bit upset," Ms Lennon said.

"Elephants are funny animals. They can take a dislike to someone, which can happen, but 99 per cent of people she loves."

Animal Liberation spokesman Mark Pearson said it had been proven before that elephants that killed once, frequently killed again.

Ashtons Circus elephant Abu killed three workers in 1974, 1983 and again in 1987. His partner at the time had been Gigi who was later bought by Stardust Circus.

"Now that Arna has had a taste of it - and if her situation is not changed - then the public is at risk," Mr Pearson said. "To put Arna before people, including children, would be irresponsible."

Animal Liberation will lobby the Department of Primary Industries to revoke the circus licence.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23002946-2,00.html