Jumbo the Elephant
1860 – September 15 1885
Jumbo the Elephant (1861-September 15, 1885) was an unusually tall African elephant best known for his time as an attraction in the London Zoo and as a part of P.T. Barnum's circus from 1882 to his death in 1885. He is arguably the first international animal celebrity, and even today, his name remains widely recognized.
Born in the Sudan, the one-year-old elephant who became Jumbo was taken by hunters after they killed his mother. He was then sold to an Italian animal dealer, and eventually sent to the famous Jardin des Plantes in Paris. In 1865 he was transferred to the London Zoo as part of a trade, and was placed under the care of Matthew Scott, who at the time looked after the zoo’s birds but had no experience with elephants. The young elephant was rather sickly when he arrived from Paris, and was not at all large for his age. Scott carefully tended the elephant, won his trust, and Jumbo eventually began to thrive. He was trained to give rides around the park to visitors of all ages, earning him the love of the public, especially children.
In 1881, P.T. Barnum’s managers made an offer to the London Zoo to purchase Jumbo. This was well timed for the zoo, as the now teenaged Jumbo was experiencing musth. This natural development in male elephants, characterized by high levels of testosterone and aggression, made Jumbo hard for the zoo to handle and rendered him unable to do his regular duties of giving visitors rides and interacting with the public. Because of Jumbo’s repeated destruction of the elephant house, the London Zoo’s director was secretly happy for the opportunity to sell him. Jumbo was purchased for $10,000 ($246,000 in present money), but the British public vociferously objected to the sale, unwilling to lose the elephant known as the “Children’s Giant Pet.” Barnum used the outrage to his advantage, and was able to generate money from the public interest in his Jumbo acquisition to offset the expense of buying and transporting him across the Atlantic. Convincing the 11-½ foot tall, 13,000 pound elephant to enter a shipping crate for the ocean crossing required weeks of work and taxed the patience of all who were effecting the procedure, but delighted the disapproving public in England.
As Barnum did in the months prior to Jenny Lind’s arrival in New York City, his advance promotion of Jumbo generated a great deal of fanfare and anticipation of the famed elephant’s arrival. Jumbo became a part of Barnum's circus, and was a major draw. Merchandise of all kinds featured Jumbo, even household items like ceramic pitchers, tin plates, and glass bottles. His image was used heavily in advertising for a variety items ranging from receipt books to sewing thread, all capitalizing on the idea of an elephant’s strength and endurance. Jumbo traveled all over the United States and Canada with Barnum’s circus, which used the ever expanding railways to reach audiences in every corner of both nations. Unlike the Asian elephants in the show, Jumbo did not perform tricks --Jumbo only had to be himself to attract the crowds, so impressive was he for his size and large, flapping ears (Asian elephants’ ears are much smaller). Tragically, on September 17,1885, Jumbo was struck by a train in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, while returning to sleeping quarters after a performance one night. No trains had been scheduled that evening and it was thus thought safe to walk along the tracks, the shortest route. Following Jumbo’s death, Barnum engaged well known taxidermist Henry Ward of Rochester, New York to preserve and re-assemble both Jumbo's skin and skeleton as two separate displays. The “Double Jumbo” exhibit toured with the circus for one or two years, before the constituent parts went to permanent homes. The skeletal remains are at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and the taxidermy elephant was gifted to Tufts University, eventually to become the school's mascot. The taxidermy Jumbo remained on display until a fire in April 1975 destroyed it.
A few pieces of Jumbo survive. After Jumbo’s death thin slices of his tusks were cut and engraved with the information, known as the scrimshaw technique. The Bridgeport History Center owns one of these cross sections of Jumbo’s tusk. At Tufts, his stuffed tail had been removed earlier because of students tugging on it, and had been placed in the archives for safekeeping. After the fire destroyed Jumbo’s taxidermied form, his ashes were gathered into a 14 ounce peanut butter jar, which is now a talisman for the Tufts sports teams.
Born in the Sudan, the one-year-old elephant who became Jumbo was taken by hunters after they killed his mother. He was then sold to an Italian animal dealer, and eventually sent to the famous Jardin des Plantes in Paris. In 1865 he was transferred to the London Zoo as part of a trade, and was placed under the care of Matthew Scott, who at the time looked after the zoo’s birds but had no experience with elephants. The young elephant was rather sickly when he arrived from Paris, and was not at all large for his age. Scott carefully tended the elephant, won his trust, and Jumbo eventually began to thrive. He was trained to give rides around the park to visitors of all ages, earning him the love of the public, especially children.
In 1881, P.T. Barnum’s managers made an offer to the London Zoo to purchase Jumbo. This was well timed for the zoo, as the now teenaged Jumbo was experiencing musth. This natural development in male elephants, characterized by high levels of testosterone and aggression, made Jumbo hard for the zoo to handle and rendered him unable to do his regular duties of giving visitors rides and interacting with the public. Because of Jumbo’s repeated destruction of the elephant house, the London Zoo’s director was secretly happy for the opportunity to sell him. Jumbo was purchased for $10,000 ($246,000 in present money), but the British public vociferously objected to the sale, unwilling to lose the elephant known as the “Children’s Giant Pet.” Barnum used the outrage to his advantage, and was able to generate money from the public interest in his Jumbo acquisition to offset the expense of buying and transporting him across the Atlantic. Convincing the 11-½ foot tall, 13,000 pound elephant to enter a shipping crate for the ocean crossing required weeks of work and taxed the patience of all who were effecting the procedure, but delighted the disapproving public in England.
As Barnum did in the months prior to Jenny Lind’s arrival in New York City, his advance promotion of Jumbo generated a great deal of fanfare and anticipation of the famed elephant’s arrival. Jumbo became a part of Barnum's circus, and was a major draw. Merchandise of all kinds featured Jumbo, even household items like ceramic pitchers, tin plates, and glass bottles. His image was used heavily in advertising for a variety items ranging from receipt books to sewing thread, all capitalizing on the idea of an elephant’s strength and endurance. Jumbo traveled all over the United States and Canada with Barnum’s circus, which used the ever expanding railways to reach audiences in every corner of both nations. Unlike the Asian elephants in the show, Jumbo did not perform tricks --Jumbo only had to be himself to attract the crowds, so impressive was he for his size and large, flapping ears (Asian elephants’ ears are much smaller). Tragically, on September 17,1885, Jumbo was struck by a train in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, while returning to sleeping quarters after a performance one night. No trains had been scheduled that evening and it was thus thought safe to walk along the tracks, the shortest route. Following Jumbo’s death, Barnum engaged well known taxidermist Henry Ward of Rochester, New York to preserve and re-assemble both Jumbo's skin and skeleton as two separate displays. The “Double Jumbo” exhibit toured with the circus for one or two years, before the constituent parts went to permanent homes. The skeletal remains are at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and the taxidermy elephant was gifted to Tufts University, eventually to become the school's mascot. The taxidermy Jumbo remained on display until a fire in April 1975 destroyed it.
A few pieces of Jumbo survive. After Jumbo’s death thin slices of his tusks were cut and engraved with the information, known as the scrimshaw technique. The Bridgeport History Center owns one of these cross sections of Jumbo’s tusk. At Tufts, his stuffed tail had been removed earlier because of students tugging on it, and had been placed in the archives for safekeeping. After the fire destroyed Jumbo’s taxidermied form, his ashes were gathered into a 14 ounce peanut butter jar, which is now a talisman for the Tufts sports teams.
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