Pepsi, a six-year-old show elephant that gored a rubber tapper in Pendang on Friday, has been “acquitted” of killing its victim.

Pendang OCPD Deputy Supt Mohd Sukri Awang said police had classified the case as “sudden death” and found that no criminal action was involved.

The Kedah office of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) also said no action would be taken against the elephant and classified the case as an accident.

DSP Mohd Sukri said a post-mortem revealed that Prawat Din Chu, 50, from Kampung Padang Pusing, died due to severe injuries to his lungs.

The elephant was among a herd of five, aged between two and six, which were brought to a Buddhist temple in the village for a show to mark the opening of its new building.

Police investigations found that Prawat had teased Pepsi with sugarcane at the Wat Padang Pusing before it rushed towards him.

A Kuala Lumpur-based company had brought the elephants from Thailand early last year for live shows in the peninsula.

The animals were due to perform in several areas in Kedah until the end of March but DSP Shukri said that the police had not issued a permit for an elephant show at the wat.

Meanwhile, Perhilitan's state deputy director, Mey Rafedah Rosli, said the elephants were chained to trees within an enclosure and this should have served as a warning to the public not to get too close.

She said the company that brought in the elephants had valid travelling and ownership documents.

A company spokesman said the elephants had a “contract” to perform in the country until the end of this year.

She said the animals had been kept at the wat, about 35km from here, since Jan 22.

“We kept the elephants at the temple while we wait for a permit for our performances in Kedah,” she said, adding that she gave a statement to the police yesterday.

Prawat died on the way to the Alor Star Hospital on Friday after he was attacked by Pepsi.

During the incident, five trainers were having lunch about 25m from the elephants.

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Now I dunno about any of you, but I certainly will never approach a big animal like elephant and tease it with food for fun.

The victim should have realized that you should not piss off anything that is almost 6 times bigger in minimum compared to an average human size. Size does matter.

Submitted on 02/11/2005

Submitted by: Stormy001
Reference: Malaysia, 30 Jan 2005

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

Daniel said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I agree, one doesn't tease something that large.

Charles said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I have to wonder about this one a little. Granted, you don't tease animals, large or small -- they are too unpredictable. But could our victim have believed the elephant to be completely tame? Or could he have had an unrealistic awareness of the meaning of "tame" as applied to elephants? Seeing that the elephants were _chained_ to trees, one would think he would understand that they weren't lap-dog tame...

Jack said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Someone else who has obviously been watching too many Disney movies and Wild Kingdom reruns...

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