Viola, the 'retired' Circus World elephant, walks away from circus in Montana

But earlier this week, 54-year-old Viola ran off from a circus in Butte, Montana, after apparently being startled by the sound of a truck backfiring. Although she was quickly returned to her handler, that she was still performing at all surprised some in Baraboo, who assumed the aging elephant’s days entertaining circus-goers were over.

They aren’t.

Although the elephants are no longer headlining shows at Circus World following a years-long effort by animal rights activists to end the practice, they were still under contract to perform elsewhere, O’Donnell said at the time. The elephants’ handler, Armando Loyal, noted that fact many times in his daily “Trunk Tales” presentations last summer, O’Donnell said.

In fact, the sanctuary to which the animals were headed — the nonprofit Endangered Ark Foundation in Hugo, Oklahoma — is not a new home but is their longtime home base where they stay when not traveling. Circus World, like other circuses, merely hired the animals for the season. During his tenure at the Baraboo attraction, O’Donnell said, Viola performed at Circus World in 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

The animals are owned by Carson and Barnes, a for-profit circus touring entity owned by Barbara Miller Byrd and Geary Byrd, who also own Endangered Ark.

“Circus World has never owned any elephants over our 64 years that we’ve had them onsite with us,” O’Donnell said. “A lot of people assume that we own the elephants. We don’t. We never have. We don’t control where they go when they leave us.”

It’s not clear how many more contracts the elephants are under, and when they’ll expire. In a statement, Endangered Ark spokesperson Ashley Anderson said only that they “have a few more contracts to fulfill before their retirement here at the EAF.”

One of those was this week at the Jordan World Circus in Butte, where on Tuesday Viola was startled while getting a bath at the Butte Civic Center and ran off, Loyal told the Montana Standard. Bystander video showed the elephant strolling down a busy downtown street.

“Although we are upset that she was scared and, in this situation, we are grateful that she remained calm and no injuries were sustained to her or any other bystanders,” Carson and Barnes Circus said in a statement afterward.

The escape did not stop the two performances, which went ahead Tuesday afternoon and night as scheduled, the newspaper reported.

Viola has gotten loose at least two other times under Carson and Barnes ownership.

In April 2010, she got away from a circus in Lynchburg, Virginia, and suffered shoulder and toe injuries after falling down a hill during the escape, according to records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture obtained by the Humane Society of the United States.

Nearly four years later, in March 2014, Viola was one of three elephants that escaped a circus in St. Charles, Missouri. Viola received lacerations on both sides of her body in that escape, according to USDA records provided by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Humane Society reports indicated that two vehicles were damaged in the escape as well.

In 2017, Kelly escaped from Circus World early one morning and explored a residential area near the museum grounds. She was led back without incident.

Debbie Metzler, director of captive animal welfare for PETA, said she was not surprised by the latest incident involving Viola. The group and others have long sought to ban the use of elephants in circuses, which they say consists of “grueling tricks in shows twice a day, seven days a week,” by elephants often with swollen feet and “signs of other ailments.”

“Viola’s desperate break for freedom follows decades of abuse and involuntary servitude at the hands of Carson and Barnes Circus,” Metzler said.

The Humane Society provided 39 records of violations against circus elephants issued by the USDA against Carson and Barnes. The company has been cited for more than 100 violations of the Animal Welfare Act, according to USDA records cited by PETA.

Endangered Ark is home to 16 Asian elephants, including Viola and Kelly, the nonprofit stated. The statement continues by saying that “we look forward to providing and caring for her—Viola—when she is fully retired from show business.”