[Preacherman]

From the Telegraph, London (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$NW2OWK5G0X4CXQFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2003/07/30/nelep30.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/07/30/ixhome.html):

Safari park elephant hurls rock through car window

By Nick Britten
(Filed: 30/07/2003)

Elephants never forget, according to folklore, and neither will the family who came to see them and had a rock hurled at their car.

The attack came as the Birch family was using a video camera near the elephant enclosure at West Midlands Safari Park, Bewdley, Worcs.

Suddenly an elephant scooped up a large rock and hurled it through the car's back window, hitting one of the family members on the leg, showering the back seat in glass and terrifying the four-year-old twins Callum and Lewis.

A park spokesman apologised to the family yesterday and invited them back "to make friends" with the 10-year-old African bull elephant, Tooth.

Anthony Birch, his wife, Shireen, their sons and her parents, Richard and Ann Jones, were in the car. The rock hit Mrs Jones, 62, on the leg.

Mrs Birch, 32, said: "It was so frightening. At the back of my mind was the thought that the elephant was going to crush us."

The family footage shows the camera being pointed at Tooth just before he hurls the rock.

Bob Lawrence, the head park keeper, said: "This was just a case of frustration mixed with a bit of playfulness.

"Earlier other people had been chucking food at Tooth from their car windows. Perhaps he picked up something he thought was food and, when he realised it wasn't, he threw it at the car in disgust."

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Well, if you were forced to live far away from your ancestral home, surrounded by dumb tourists throwing rubbish (that you can't eat) out of their cars, wouldn't you be a bit miffed?

GO ELEPHANT!


:evil: :neener: :D

[sm]

"Earlier other people had been chucking food at Tooth from their car windows. Perhaps he picked up something he thought was food and, when he realised it wasn't, he threw it at the car in disgust."
Tooth has released a statement:
Don't these people know I work for PEANUTS ?



:D :neener: :D

[Dr.Rob]

Don't feed the animals. Don't be upset when one acts like an animal.

I recall as a kid going through Lion Country safari in SoCal.... lessons learned:

1. A male rhino was bigger than our rented Nissan Sentra. A LOT bigger. We drove completely around his wallow and got a very good look. You would need a really BIG rifle to knock one down.

2. Llamas can spit. Leave your windows rolled up.

3. The lions are in a cage made of chain link and barbed wire 40 feet high for a reason. The jeep outside the enclosure had a rifle rack with a dart gun and a BIG bolt rifle. The lions were completely uninterested in our presence and were sleeping 2-3 feet from the car. The largest lion was a female and her paws were bigger than my chest.

4. Monkeys like to throw stuff a lot more offensive than rocks.

5. The kodiak bear taking a swim beside the car was as big as the car. he was like Shardik big. Ursa major big. Hell of a thing for a 12 year old to see up close.

Just be glad thanks to hunters like us, and our conservation efforts that there are still places to see elephants, lions, bears and rhinos in the wild.