Elephant History Thread

[toxodon]

I know there are a few elephant history nerd on this forum so I thought I would make a thread for us to talk about elephant history.

Recently I have been reading "Fun By The Ton" by William Edward Allen and Francis Beverly Kelley. Allen talks a lot about Jumbo II (Safari). He was one of only two ever african elephants kept by the Detroit zoo, which was the local zoo for most of my childhood. So I have a little bit of a fascination by him. He was sold to the Detroit zoo (which would move and have it's named changed to Safariland before being closed down), from Hagenbeck Tierpark in 1930. After a four year stay, he was sold to Cole Brother's Circus where he died of TB in 1936. Interestingly enough, I found some newspaper clippings from the time of his death that he ate shards of glass that killed him. But Allen says in the book that his lungs were almost fully destroyed by the disease. Here are some photos of him I've come across. One day I'll scan one pictures from the book.

 

[Tim May]

Anybody interested in the history of captive elephants should read the book
I Loved Rogues: The Life of an Elephant Tramp (Slim Lewis & Byron Fish)

 

[toxodon]

Anybody interested in the history of captive elephants should read the book
I Loved Rogues: The Life of an Elephant Tramp (Slim Lewis & Byron Fish)

Definitely going on my reading list. Thank you

 

[toxodon]

I have found a video of possibly Safari from when he was at the Detroit Zoo

 

[kermodei]

Love this thread idea! A few months back I did a deep dive into the history of the elephants kept at my home zoo, the Greater Vancouver Zoo, and created family trees for both species (bear with me, I'm not an expert on graphic design )

Spoiler: African elephants

The GVZoo only ever housed one African elephant, an African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) named "Tumpe". Born at the Toronto Zoo in 1983 to 13 year-old "Tequila", Tumpe was moved to the GVZoo just three years later in 1986, joining then 13 year-old Indian elephant Tina. The pair would be housed together in a yard towards the front of the zoo property.

(A 2 month-old Tumpe and her mother at the Toronto Zoo, October 1983.)
​

Fast forward to 2002, a then 19 year-old Tumpe was moved (for reasons unknown to me currently) to Riverbanks Zoological Park in South Carolina. Jump now to 2007, in an exchange with Disney World Orlando's Animal Kingdom, Tumpe is traded for a pair of older female elephants, "Robin" and "Petunia". The hope was that Tumpe would breed but, just two years later, she would pass away at the age of only 26. Her official cause of death is listed as a combination of "skin sores" and "gastrointestinal problems".

(Tina and Tumpe in July, 2002, just two months before Tumpe would be transferred. x)https://www.asianelephant.net/vancouver/vancouver.htm#​

Tumpe is survived by her full-blood, older sister "Thika", who currently resides at the PAWS ARK 2000 in California.

Spoiler: Asian elephants

The GVZoo's history of housing Asian elephants is far more colourful. The story starts with "Jackpot", a 2 year-old male Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), purchased by the zoo from animal trainer Gene Holder in 1970. Jackpot is said to have been quite the celebrity in his time at the zoo, even "helping" MLA Hunter Vogel perform the ribbon cutting ceremony when the facility first opened.

(Jackpot receives attention from then-owner Pat Hines.)​

Two years later, Jackpot would be joined by half-sisters "Tina" and "Judy" from the Oregon Zoo. Tina's personality was much more amicable than her younger sister's and so, just 9 months after her arrival, Judy would be sold (along with Jackpot) to Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. After this point, the details for both elephants become murky, though Jackpot may have spent at least sometime with the travelling circus Circus Vargas.

Tina would be bereft of elephant companionship until 1986, when she was joined by the aforementioned Tumpe. In 1989, at the age of 19, Tina was transferred briefly to African Lion Safari in Ontario. Some sources state it was in hopes she would breed, others claim it was to improve her health. Either way, Tina returned to the GVZoo 6 months later.

(Tumpe and Tina in their yard at the GVZoo, April 2003. x)https://www.asianelephant.net/vancouver/vancouver.htm#​

Tina had struggled health-wise since the early 1990s and in combination with mounting pressure from the public, she was transferred to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee in August, 2003. Thus ending the Greater Vancouver Zoo's story with elephants. Tina would, unfortunately, pass away less than a year after her move. A necropsy showed her cause of death to have been heart problems.

Tina is survived by her full-blood, older sister "Cora".

(Tina during her short time at the sanctuary. x)
​

And there it is! Hopefully I remembered everything correctly haha

 

[toxodon]

It's been over a year since this thread was last updated. Before updating interesting things i've found over the past year, I do want to say a few words. Last month @ShowMeElephants passed away. He was an amazing elephant historian who was constantly doing new research into the history of elephants and their keeping, especially with the old circus men. He was someone I always intended to reaching out and saying how much his work inspired and was so helpful to me, but I was always too nervous to actually do. Unfortunately, I never did and now it is too late. With the deaths of him and Buckles Woodcock, we have lost a ton of information that they never wrote down, but at least their writings on the internet remain.

I finally got the read I Loved Rogues: The Life of an Elephant Tramp. Slim was a fascinating man who I never knew had been so involved with so many different elephants over the years. From ofc Ziggy to Tusko. He was an icon of the early 1900's elephant keeping. Thank you all for recommending his book.