Elephant on the loose in Baraboo Friday morning

BARABOO, Wis. (WMTV) – An elephant was roaming a neighborhood in Baraboo after it got loose from Circus World Friday morning.

According to Sauk County Dispatch, the call came in from a resident around 5:05 a.m. on Friday. The elephant wandered around the neighborhood for about 40 minutes until police were able to contact the elephant’s trainers.

"It's not every day you get a phone call saying hey chief the elephant is out," Baraboo Police Chief, Mark Schauf said.

The circus trainers were called and the elephant was returned around 5:45 a.m.

The elephant's name is Kelly. She's in her mid 40's and weighs more than 8 thousand pounds.

Scott O'Donell the Executive Director of Circus World says another one of their elephants helped Kelly open one of the gates on their overnight enclosure.

"She has this very fun kind of playful personality, mischievous in a way, so it wasn't out of the box for her, when she was off the grounds of course," O'Donell said.

Chief Schauf says the Baraboo Police have experience handling animals from community events such as parades. He says there is a protocol in place for handling elephants, but he said he never thought they would have to use it for this kind of incident.

"You know there's not a lot of places where elephants would be on the loose. It's just another day in circus city for us," Chief Schauf said.

Statement from PETA Foundation Vice President Delcianna Winders:

"What a wonderful half an hour of freedom for this dear elephant. This isn't the first time that an elephant has tried to flee a life of chains, and if Carson & Barnes' record of elephant escapes is any indication, it won't be the last. PETA urges families to reject the exploitation of these majestic animals and refuse to buy a ticket to any circus that uses animals."