With each repeated blow, the pitchfork makes a sickening thwack as it slams into Anne the elephant's hide.She flinches, at one point even appearing to lose her footing under the weight of a particularly savage strike.
The disturbing images come from a secretly shot video which campaigners say lays bare the cruel reality of her life as Britain's last circus elephant.
It shows Anne enduring the abuse at the hands of her so-called carers while shackled in a dingy barn during the circus's winter break.
As well as being repeatedly hit with the pitchfork by one worker employed to feed and look after her, the 58-year-old elephant also appears to be stabbed in the face with the tool's metal prongs during one attack.
A total of 48 strikes, including kicks to her body and head, were recorded as she was left chained to the spot by her legs.
Campaigners claimed shackling Anne with leg irons is particularly cruel because she suffers arthritis and her movements are already badly hampered.
The graphic attacks were recorded over three-and-a-half weeks by a surveillance camera concealed on a farm in Polebrook, Northamptonshire.
Experts working for the pressure group Animal Defenders International (ADI) planted the device because of concerns about Anne's welfare. Read More
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