An elephant was discovered in the Critic office last Thursday. The elephant appeared in the room while the Critic staff were writing that week’s news. It is unclear what the elephant’s motives were. The elephant was eventually removed by the police, and has declined to comment on the incident.
Senior Detective Frank Bowden of the Dunedin Police yesterday confirmed to Critic that elephant sightings were rare in Dunedin. “I haven’t seen an elephant this size in some time,” he said. “How it managed to fit in that room is beyond me.”
Police removed the elephant, whose name is believed to be Dennis, after its presence was deemed disruptive by OUSA management. There were concerns that the floor of the Critic office, which was constructed to bear the weight of spindly wannabe hacks rather than enormous proboscides, would collapse and crush OUSA’s events team.
However, Skye Rayne of PETA criticised the police’s actions, saying that Dennis the elephant had every right to be there. “Dennis is the official elephant of that room,” she said. “If Dennis was removed from the room without warning, Critic may be on shaky grounds legally.”
The story was picked up by the Otago Daily Times, which ran with the headline “An Elephant in the Room at Critic.” This was a play on the idiom “elephant in the room,” which is used to describe an obvious or awkward truth that is deliberately ignored. In this case, it also referred to the fact that an elephant had literally been in the room.
It is believed that Dennis will never forget the incident.
Police render point-proving tactics irrelephant
