George A. Lowry, Jr., attempted to rescue Jerome Leccese from an attack by an enraged elk, Scranton, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1964. When Leccese, 75, zoo attendant, entered an enclosed paddock at a zoo, he was attacked by an enraged bull elk which weighed 900 pounds. Leccese was pinned to the ground and severely injured by the elk’s antlers, its prongs penetrating his chest. While another attendant sprayed water on the elk without effect, a visitor summoned Lowry, 29, acting superintendent of a zoo, who ran 300 feet and entered the paddock. Lowry struck the elk forcibly on the skull with the head of a push broom. The handle broke, and Lowry jabbed the elk with the sharp end of the remaining section to no avail. He then grasped one antler and attempted to throw the elk to the ground. The elk flung its head upward, hurling Lowry in one direction and Leecese in another. After charging Leccese, the elk turned on Lowry, ripping away much of his clothing and knocking him to the ground. It then returned to Leccese., who was bleeding profusely, and with repeated thrusts of its antlers rolled him to the eight-foot fence. Lowry was just getting to his feet when the elk charged him again, knocking him to the ground and also rolling him to the fence. When the elk left him, Lowry ran to a drainage ditch in the paddock and lay prone in it. After once more charging Leccese, the elk returned to Lowry and tried without success to thrust its antlers into the ditch. The elk left Lowry, moved to the middle of the paddock, and pawed the ground as police cut a hole in the fence and removed Leceese. Lowry arose, ran from the paddock, and closed the gate. Leccese died five days later. Lowry sustained lacerations which healed.
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