Residents of Yekaterinburg were suprised to see a couple of elephants wandering the snowy streets of Russia’s third-largest city after they escaped from a circus.
The two female elephants, Karla and Ranni, belonged to the Italian Togni circus that ran a show in Yekaterinburg during the New Year holidays.
When its troupe tried to load the animals into a truck Thursday to head to the next destination, the elephants resisted and walked away. The circus said that Ranni loitered near the loading point, but the more adventurous Karla decided to take a tour of the city.
Unreceptive to attempts to bring her back, she crossed a busy street and headed to a residential building to roll in the snow. One man who tried to stop her by holding on to her trunk was pushed across the street, his feet sliding on the ice.
Handlers finally got a rope around the elephant’s front legs, but it took a dozen people to pull her back. She reluctantly obeyed after playing in the snow.
Circus travels long distances with wild animals
“The elephants wanted to get some new experiences before a long journey, and they got them,” the circus commented.
The circus is known for long travels with wild animals; in some Russian cities, locals complained about the visiting troupe and launched a petition to ban the animal circus.
Source: AP
