Elephant Free For A Moment

A chained elephant, whose plight brought an outpouring of donations in 1995, was killed Sunday when it went berserk, snapping its tether and attacking police cars.

Thai police fired more than 100 bullets into the elephant, the Bangkok Post reported Tuesday.

A Buddhist abbot had kept the bull elephant chained to a dead tree for 20 years at a Buddhist temple compound in Pathum Thani, 16 miles north of Bangkok. The short, tight chain injured the animal’s leg. Activists in 1995 raised thousands to buy the elephant, Diamond, so the wounds could be treated.

Abbot Pra Kru Udom Pawanapirat refused to sell, saying “I have raised him for over 19 years. I never torture him.” He used the elephant to attract worshipers and donations. On Sunday, Diamond broke his chain. Police arrived with sirens blaring, panicking the beast, which attacked the vehicles.

About 10 officers opened fire on the elephant, shooting it in the legs to bring it down and keeping up the fusillade until the animal tumbled into a nearby canal and died.

Local residents, many of whom were fond of the animal, were staging a three-day funeral.