Somerset: Elephant shot thirty years ago near Chard

Published in the Chard and Ilminster News on the week of January 11, 1995, a controversial article was released about the euthanasia of a depressed Indian elephant who was shot at dawn despite there being “a lifeline” offer of a new home in America.

Sahib was the largest bull Indian elephant in captivity at the time, at 6 and a half tons, and was “destroyed” with a shotgun after zoos across Europe failed to take him.

Park spokesman at the time Neil Crespin insisted it was not the cost of the American trip – around £20,000 – which sealed Sahib’s fate.

He instead asserted that the trip to the sanctuary in Arkansas would have been “too traumatic” for Sahib, who was already “depressed and violent”.

Trisha Holford, previously from Zoo Check charity, has suggested conditions at Cricket St Thomas contributed to Sahib’s depression.

Blobbyland partly to blame for Sahib's distress?

Trisha claimed Sahib was “shut up and alone for most of the day”.

She said: “There is also a lot of encroachment from Blobbyland which we are against because the noise is very distressing to the animals.”

Crinkley Bottom, also popularly referred to as Blobbyland, was the operating title for a series of British theme parks operating in the 1990s created by Noel Edmonds.

The former money-spinning attraction near Chard, has been closed since 1999 and described as a “waterlogged wasteland.”

READ MORE: Look what's happened to the house that Blobby built

Noel Edmonds ‘deeply saddened and shocked’

1990s BBC TV presenter Noel Edmonds said he was deeply shocked and saddened when he learned that Sahib had been destroyed.

As soon as the elephant’s death became public knowledge Mr Edmonds, a member of the park board issued a statement.

He said: “The Taylor family who have been operating Cricket St Thomas for many years and have an enviable reputation for the management and care of wild animals, made their decision to have an animal put down, following the issuing of a licence from the local authority due to the elephant’s temperament towards other elephants, it  poor mental state and inability to find it another suitable home.”

He added he is “deeply saddened” that the Taylors went ahead with the action without approval of the full board of the leisure park, which houses the Crinkley Bottom TV theme park.

“The board was aware that for more than two years an alternative home was being sought for Sahib without success,” he said. “However, the order to destroy the animal is deeply regrettable.”

Sahib’s 30th death day anniversary

Sahib was killed the day before Christmas Eve thirty years ago in the presence of Crewkerne vet at the time Tony Parsons.

Tony told the park the elephant was euthanised by darting the immobilon after which the animal went into recumbency slowly and quietly within twenty minutes.

When narcosis was complete, the animal was shot using a .357 rifle followed by three 12-bore Brenneke rounds, and a further 6ml of immobilon was administered to ensure death.

Sahib was buried in an unmarked grave in the grounds of Cricket St Thomas.

Mr. Crespin added: “It was an extremely sad decision which needed to be made. The animal couldn’t integrate with any other elephants. He was distressed for some time as elephants are herd animals.

“It may have been possible to relocate Sahib to another European zoo but after much deliberation, we decided it was inevitable someone, somewhere would have to make a more responsible decision about the difficult animal and we have therefore taken this sad but humane decision.”

He claimed that Sahib, born in a German circus, had a “violent history” and had attacked the park’s four other female elephants.

Trisha Holford thought Sahib’s failure to mate was his downfall.

She said: “He was destroyed because he was a useless bull to them. He would not breed with the females. There was his aggressive behaviour. But that’s normal bull behaviour.

“They are powerful dangerous animals. I hope for goodness sake they don’t get another bull unless there are the facilities to look after it properly.”

RSPCA inspector at the time David Steele, who made regular visits to the Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park, described the elephant facilities as “adequate without being excellent.”

The South Somerset District Council of 1995 tried pleading on Sahib’s behalf when notified about the killing.

The spokesman for the council Ric Rogers said: “We expressed our disappointment, and our advice was to carry on finding a new home.”

The Closure of Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park

The Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park in Somerset, UK was eventually closed in 2009 due to a decline in revenue, leading to job losses, and reopened as a new garden attraction.

READ MORE: Shocking move at Cricket St Thomas

READ MORE: Historic gardens open at Cricket St Thomas

Following the closure and refurbishment work in 2009, the larger animals were all rehomed to suitable locations and landscaping work was carried out to transform the parkland into gardens.

A park spokesman said: “We’ve been looking at the wildlife park for some time because visitor numbers have been going down for a long time.

“We had to look at what would be best for the park, and after consulting with BIAZA – the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums – and Chris Webster, who used to work at Longleat Safari Park, we decided the larger animals would have to go.

“It’s inevitable, unfortunately, that if you’re moving some of the animals some roles may no longer exist for staff, and we’re in consultation about that now.”

The grounds were revamped into Cricket St Thomas Lakes and Gardens in 2010, but this concept was scrapped in 2011 leaving the grounds as a hotel.