Elephants on the Run

It's usually birds and squirrels that herald the coming of spring. But residents of Lodz were surprised to find three fully-grown elephants roaming around their city this year.

The elephants were first spotted chomping on some greenery near the City Registrar?s Office. Locals might have been forgiven for thinking that the giants were extras in a cinematic caper - Lodz's film school has won worldwide fame. But no cast or crew seemed to be in sight.

In fact, the elephants had escaped from a travelling circus. Roadies putting up tents had failed to notice that Mumbo, Jumbo and Dumbo were not being looked after.

By all accounts, the elephants were behaving in a calm and dignified manner as befitting one of Nature's most majestic mammals. In this light, firemen decided that rather than intervene, the safest option was to contact the circus directly. The long-trunked fellows were soon led away without incident, and the circus received a small slap on the wrist, being charged a paltry 200 zloty for the blunder. Firemen joked that at least the renegades were elephants - lions might have proved more tricky to handle.