Rock-throwers at the Wuhan Zoo in central China obviously haven't heard the old maxim, “elephants never forget.” The lesson was reinforced recently when 13-year-old Ahai got fed up with being pelted with stones, mud and plastic bottles by moronic zoo visitors and decided to return the “favor” in kind.
The incident took place at around 10am when a male zoo visitor let fly with a stone. Ahai (above and right), one of two African elephants sharing the enclosure at the Wuhan Zoo, had evidently reached the breaking point. Curling a stone in his trunk, he flung it towards the ill-mannered crowd.
Unfortunately, Ahai's aim was off and the stone hit a young girl in the forehead. The surprised crowd fled the scene while the girl, screaming in pain, was taken to the local hospital with minor injuries.
The incident bears some similarities to the notorious tiger attack that occurred at the San Francisco Zoo occurred on December 25th, 2007 when a trio of young men allegedly provoked a 243-pound Bengal Tiger to leap out of its enclosure. The San Francisco Zoo subsequently extended the height of the retaining wall and added a number of other safeguards meant to protect both zoo visitors and zoo residents.
It's interesting to note that the wall of the Wuhan Zoo's elephant enclosure was also raised – to a height of 3 meters (9.84 ft) – following a 2007 incident in which Ahai turned the tables on stone-throwing tourists by “returning” their “gifts”. Elephants never forget... and some people never learn. (via Want China Times, China-Tour, Embracing Entropy, and The Sun)