Elephant on the loose in QC

They thought he had gotten tired of working for peanuts. But it turned out that the visiting Thai elephant simply went off in search of a cold shower.

The 21-year-old Jumbo, the biggest of 10 elephants from Thailand performing in the "Elephant World" show at the Araneta Center in Quezon City, was about to get his regular morning shower but became "agitated" because of the summer heat and broke free, said Shige Ijima, the son of the show’s promoter.

A staffer at the Araneta Center said the elephant’s Thai handler called in sick yesterday and another trainer took over, but the animal wasn’t used to being handled by another person.

So Jumbo left his circus tent in Cubao at noon and traipsed around Quezon City.

The eight-foot-tall elephant stepped on the chest of a trainer in his path, crushing the man’s ribs. The critically injured trainer is under observation at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center. Another trainer who tried to stop Jumbo was also injured.

Other animal caretakers were helpless as Jumbo crossed the road from Araneta Center, walked to Ramon Magsaysay High School and took a stroll along EDSA against the flow of traffic.

Jumbo had created a massive traffic jam when he finally rested in the cool shade of a tree after his path was blocked by a beer delivery truck.

By the time Jumbo was secured by his trainers, he was happily munching on bananas and enjoying a hosing down by concerned citizens and amused firemen.

Police theorized that Jumbo went wild "because of the scorching heat."

Investigators said traffic became so congested that many vehicles had to take alternate routes to avoid the chaos. Bystanders, however, cheered Jumbo to walk on.

When the elephant reached the Kamuning area, he decided to take a rest under a tree in front of the Equitable-PCI Bank Tomas Morato branch because the empty beer truck blocked his path.

Two Thai handlers finally arrived and grabbed a steel chain attached to one of Jumbo’s legs and tied the chain around a tree.

A resident hosed the elephant down to cool him down. Ijima fed it bananas before another man injected tranquilizers. The elephant used its snout to slurp up pools of water and mud to spray on its back.

Hundreds of residents, many of them children seeing a live elephant for the first time, cheered the impromptu show. "We don’t have money to watch the elephants, but now we can watch all we want. Thank you," said Lourdes Cruz.

Oyi Sebastian, a veterinarian, sedated Jumbo using a tranquilizer gun. He theorized that it must be elephant mating season.

The mammal eventually calmed down at around 3 p.m. as personnel of the Metro Manila Development Authority sent a crane to load and bring Jumbo back to the Araneta Center in Cubao. But the woozy elephant rolled off the flatbed truck and hit a taxi.

On the other hand, the Philippine Animal Welfare Society said the elephant must have been mistreated by its trainers.