Commuters in Montana City in the US were taken aback after seeing an elephant running on the streets. The animal, from a local circus, broke free from its pen and tore down the busy street. Several videos of the elephant were captured by locals and posted on social media platforms. The clips show the animal crossing the busy Butte's Harrison Avenue around noon on Tuesday, not bothered about the cars cautiously travelling in each direction. A man was seen carrying a stick and desperately trying to corral the elephant.
The videos also show the animal hilariously crossing the street in a designated turning lane - though in opposite direction.
The elephant also crossed a parking lot before heading to a residential block, a video captured by a local gas station shows. The animal calmly striding even though the man kept chasing it.
New York Post said the female elephant was in town with the Jordan World Circus. It's affectionately called Viola.
Its handlers were giving the elephant a bath when a sudden sound of a car backfiring spooked the animal, the venue's manager Bill Melvin told the Daily Montanan.
The 58-year-old elephant ran away but was safely brought back by the staff. No one was injured in the chase, the Post further said in its report.
"The circus, of course, is very professional, and they had a professional trainer and he was real calm and the animal was calm and they were able to get her right back. It was not nearly as dramatic as you would think," Mr Melvin said.
The escape didn't cast any shadow on the circus' performance and it put on its 4pm and 7pm shows without any hitch.
Meanwhile, animal rights group like PETA criticised the treatment of captive animals and demanded that the should be freed.
"Viola's desperate break for freedom follows decades of abuse and involuntary servitude at the hands of Carson & Barnes Circus, which forces her to perform gruelling, painful tricks and has been caught on video electroshocking elephants and beating them with a sharp, steel-tipped bullhook," PETA said in a statement.
