Rajah the Elephant - Auckland Museum

zooboy28 · 21 Oct 2012

Rajah the Elephant - Auckland Museum

Rajah was a bull Indian Elephant, purchased by Auckland Zoo for 125 pounds from Hobart Zoo, who arrived in November 1930, aged 13. He meaured 8 foot 3 (~2.5m) tall, and 9 foot 4 (2.8m~) long. He was a constant source of trouble, and was never trusted by staff. Eventually, his keeper became unable to control him, and he was shot on 9 March 1936.

It appears Auckland Zoo was duped by Hobart Zoo, who had previously offered Rajah free to an Australian circus, which had refused due to his unruly behaviour. His untrustworthiness was attributed to not being preoperly cared for in Hobart, and an occassion (also in Hobart) where a visitor passed him a lighted cigarette, burning his trunk.

Following his death, Rajah was given to Auckland Zoo, where he was mounted by the taxidermist Charles Dover. He has been on show there ever since, and is in reasonable condition.

Info from A Tiger by the Tail: A history of Auckland Zoo 1922-1992 (1992). By Derek Wood.

FBBird · 21 Oct 2012

Rajah the Elephant

It seems to have been almost routine to destry maturing bull elephants in the good old days, as soon as they started to try out their strenght. If protected contact had been invented then, perhaps they would have survived. The difficulty with free contact for maturing bulls is they can't test their strength/social skills on humans withoput thingsgoing badly wrong. And before anyone asks, this is all speculation, I've never worked with elephants.

Chlidonias · 24 Oct 2012

after Rajah was shot the keepers put up a screen to block the visitors' view, then the body was skinned and butchered, with the meat later fed to the zoo's carnivores.

zooboy28 · 24 Oct 2012

Chlidonias said:
after Rajah was shot the keepers put up a screen to block the visitors' view, then the body was skinned and butchered, with the meat later fed to the zoo's carnivores.

Well they leave that off the signs

I'm not surprised though, it would have been a huge waste otherwise. Where did this info come from?

Chlidonias · 24 Oct 2012

from the Evening Post, 9 March 1936

Rogue Elephant

Rajah one of the two elephants at the Auckland Zoo was shot this morning by order of the Zoo authorities, as he was considered likely to have become a menace to public safety, he having lately ‘turned rogue’ necessitating precautions.

The elephant was valued at £500, but will not be a total loss, as the skin is to be stuffed for the War Memorial Museum Auckland.

from the Evening Post, 11 March 1936

Food for the Lions

No time was lost at the Auckland Zoo on Monday in disposing of the body of the elephant Rajah, which was shot for bad temper and thus had become a danger to the general public.

The taxidermist Mr C.W. Dover, assisted by three zoo attendants, worked all afternoon to remove the hide.

Rajah weighed nearly 4 tones at the time of his death, and the block and tackle and a lifting jack had to used to lift his body into a suitable position for the men to start work with their sharp knives, states the ‘New Zealand Herald’.

A makeshift screen was erected so that visitors to the zoo might not see the operations.

Lions and tigers had elephant meat for afternoon tea yesterday.

both recorded here: Auckland Zoo Timeline New Version 1

Rajah the Elephant - Auckland Museum

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