Obert
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Carson & Barnes Circus in United States

Biography

☨ ♂ Obert

Identification


Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Male ♂ 12 years old
Origin
Born:	* 1970 wild
Birth place:
Death
Dead:	†1982-05-13
Death reason:	accident: broken neck
Burial:	1982-05-13, at Gravel pit in Sallisaw, Oklahoma
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Carson & Barnes Circus, in United States

Date of arrival

1971-00-00	Carson & Barnes Circus
Record history
History of updates	2009-01-29: New elephant 2009-01-30: Previous locations, Death 2009-04-11: Birth, Death, Text

Latest document update	2023-08-28 19:45:59

† Obert is a dead Male ♂ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died 1982-05-13 at Carson & Barnes Circus, in United States, . Official death reason described as broken neck.

Origin

Obert was born wild 1970.

Comments / pictures

In May 1982 in Sallisaw Oklahoma, five Carson & Barnes elephants broke loose and ran towards a cliff. One was recovered before she made the descent, but three of the cows fell on top of Obert, whose neck was immediately broken. The survivors, Kelly, Traci and Isa, were recovered succesfully.

Isa, Lilly, Alta, Viola, and Margaret were babies about mid chest high when I took them to Mexico City in 1975 for Atayde Bros Circus. A few months prior to this I had picked up 3 other baby elephants Obert (who became their breeding bull) Kelly, and Tracey and presented them on Clyde Bros Circus for a short time. This was in the mid 70's when Carson and Barnes had 47 baby elephants (and 3 adults and a young African named Paula) on their show all between the ages of 3 and 6. In order to tell them apart as there were so many, they stenciled their names on their foreheads with white spray paint. 3 long picket lines of baby elephants. A sight which will never be seen again.
Carson and Barnes Elephants, The Circus No-Spin Zone, 01/28/2009

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2026). Obert, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Carson & Barnes Circus in United States. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 16 February 2026 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=4593. (archived at the Wayback machine)