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To: Lighthouse who wrote (6175)7/16/1998 11:29:00 AM
From: Chip Anderson  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 62549
 
Subject: Nominee for this year's Darwin Awards

The early favorite for this year's Darwin award.

PADERBORN, GERMANY - Overzealous zookeeper Friedrich
Riesfeld fed his constipated elephant Stefan 22 doses of animal
laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes
before the plugged-up pachyderm finally let fly and suffocated
the keeper under 200 pounds of poop!

Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was attempting
to give the ailing elephant an olive-oil enema when the
relieved beast unloaded on him like a dump truck full of mud.

"The sheer force of the elephant's unexpected defecation
knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground, where he struck his head
on a rock and lay unconscious as the elephant continued to
evacuate his bowels on top of him," said flabbergasted
Paderborn police detective Erik Dern.

"With no one there to help him, he lay under all that dung
for at least an hour before a watchman came along, and during
that time he suffocated.

"It seems to be just one of those freak accidents that
happen sometimes a billion-to-one shot, at least."

The heartbreaking tale of constipation and tragedy began
April 23 when the conscientious zookeeper noticed that his
prize, 8,000-pound African elephant didn't seem to be producing
his usual poop aplenty.

"Friedrich had actually been concerned for several days
because he knew that severe constipation can kill an elephant,"
assistant zookeeper Kurt Herrman recalled.

"He told me he was going to stay late that Thursday night
to treat Stefan with laxatives and possibly give him an enema.
"I offered to help, but he sent me on home, saying he had
everything under control." But two hours later, horrified night
watchman Walter Pleuger found Friedrich lying lifeless under a
mound of muck, his body visible only from the knees down.
Laxatives caused Stefan to unleash an outpouring of poop,
burying his trainer alive.

"I had never really thought about it before," Det. Dern
said. "But obviously, giving an elephant an enema can be a
very dangerous activity and not something that should be
attempted alone."

====

Chip
coolhistory.com