TRAGIC FATE OF JUMBO... THE VICTORIAN SUPERSTAR

The giant elephant that attracted millions to London Zoo before crossing the Atlantic to appear in PT Barnum’s circus is the subject of a new documentary by Sir David Attenborough

DURING his time as the greatest animal celebrity of the Victorian age Jumbo the elephant outshone the biggest names of music hall and theatre. He drew millions of visitors, became a firm favourite of the Queen’s children and much later even inspired a Hollywood film.

And while his shock sale by London Zoo to an American circus in the 1880s was regarded as a betrayal it also made him a global superstar.

Yet behind all the adoration this captive beast lived a sad, lonely, often painful existence. And there has always been mystery over the death of this elephant, who it was claimed, was the largest animal on the surface of the planet.

Did he really sacrifice his life to save his keeper or was that just one of the many myths that was created around the unfortunate Jumbo?

Now Sir David Attenborough, no less, has become the latest researcher to try to uncover the truth about the “gentle giant”, who was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s 1941 cartoon classic Dumbo.

The skeleton of the elephant, which weighed more than six tonnes at death and stood 13ft tall, is held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the naturalist was given unique access to it during the making of a BBC One documentary to be screened tomorrow night.

The bones, which have been kept in a special temperature-controlled unit, were painstakingly examined by scientists for the first time using the latest techniques.

And they have come to some fascinating conclusions about Jumbo’s medical condition and diet.

The elephant that was to take the Western world by storm was born sometime around 1860 on the borders of modern-day Ethiopia and Sudan. His name comes from the Swahili “jumbe”, meaning chief, and he was captured and sold following the slaughter of his mother by tribesmen for her tusks.

THEY hoped to cash in on the growing fascination wild animals held for Europeans, with zoo owners competing for the most spectacular exhibits and African elephants overshadowing their smaller Asian cousins.

A British explorer in Africa wrote of witnessing Jumbo – then about the size of a pony and sick and underfed – cowering in a cage. The beast was eventually bought by an Italian animal dealer and arrived at London Zoo via Paris in 1865.

The floppy-eared elephant became an instant hit, luring crowds of awe-struck Victorians who came to marvel at his growing size, take rides on his back and capture snaps using early cameras.

Among those who are said to have adored Jumbo were Queen Victoria’s children and a young Winston Churchill.

His keeper was Matthew Scott, a loner who had a deep empathy for animals and developed a strong bond. It was even claimed he discovered a way of communicating TOWERING ATTRACTION: Jumbo being fed buns and carrying a crowd of fans at London Zoo early in 1882, and Sir David Attenborough investigating his skeleton with the animal. The young elephant was disease-ridden when he arrived in London but Scott nursed him back to health and did his best to treat him well. Yet he knew little about elephant behaviour and unwittingly added to his sad plight.

Away from the crowds there was a darker side to Jumbo, not fully explained by his being in captivity. “He would become possessed by terrifyingly violent rages, where he would smash the timbers of his enclosure,” says Sir David.

“He did it so often that carpenters had to be called again and again to make repairs.” He even broke his tusks in his frustration. Scientists now believe there was another reason for his rages: bad toothache caused by his monotonous diet, largely of sticky buns and hay. They found clear signs of damage to his teeth and indications of infection.

It is also known that 300 coins were discovered in Jumbo’s stomach after his death – probably payment for rides which the elephant scooped up and swallowed – as well as a police whistle.

Pictures from the time show up to a dozen people on his back and the rides also took their toll. Jumbo suffered joint problems. His bones are likened to an animal in its 50s, rather than in his mid-20s as he was when he died. His keeper was also said to feed Jumbo whisky and beer to keep him calm, adding to his health problems.

There’s no evidence that he ever attacked anyone but zoo officials became worried that he would turn on Scott or – even worse, a child – causing a scandal.

So when in 1882 the Barnum & Bailey circus in America offered £2,000 for Jumbo, an enormous sum at the time, they found an owner in a mood to accept. “It was a marvellous opportunity for the zoo to get rid of its problematic elephant,” says Sir David. “A shocking decision was made to sell.”

There was an outcry – 100,000 children wrote to Queen Victoria begging her to intervene, adults protested at the zoo – but there was no reprieve. A lawsuit, claiming the sale was illegal, also failed.

Jumbo was crated up and shipped across the Atlantic with his loyal keeper. Huge crowds were waiting and Jumbo-mania erupted.

In just three weeks, by showing the elephant at Madison Square Garden in New York, astute circus owner, the legendary PT Barnum – ringmaster of the extravaganza he christened The Greatest Show On Earth – had recouped the purchase price. It’s reckoned 20 million people came to view Jumbo in the US alone.

AUDIENCES were invited to gasp at The Towering Monarch Of His Mighty Race, Whose Like The World Will Never See Again.

Barnum also claimed Jumbo was the biggest African elephant in the world (and therefore the biggest land animal on Earth). But his skeleton now reveals that although big for his age he was not fully grown so there would have been larger elephants in the wild.

In 1884 Jumbo was among 21 elephants that were paraded across the Brooklyn Bridge to demonstrate it was safe – following an earlier crush of people that had resulted in 12 fatalities.

His popularity never waned but he died the following year aged 24, a tragically young age for a member of a breed that can live to 70 in the wild.

While exercising at a rail yard in St Thomas, Ontario, in Canada, during a circus tour, Jumbo was struck by a train. His keeper is said to have wept uncontrollably as his best friend took his last breath and had to ward off souvenir hunters who wanted to hack off body parts.

Calculatingly, Barnum’s account of what happened only added to the elephant’s allure. Sir David says: “He declared Jumbo’s death a great heroic act, claiming that the elephant had run head-first into the train, sacrificing his life to save his keeper and a smaller elephant called Tom Thumb. This account was published again and again.”

However studies of the elephant’s skeleton shows no evidence of any fractures to the skull or pelvis consistent with a head-on collision.

Photographs from the period show scars on the elephant’s back and it’s now believed Jumbo was simply struck from behind after wandering on to the track, making a mockery of Barnum’s version. In reality the elephant was probably trying to get out of the way but could not out-run the locomotive.

Even in death the circus master couldn’t resist exploiting Jumbo. In a final indignity the poor elephant – which gave so much pleasure but often received neglect in return – was stuffed and put on show.

Attenborough And The Giant Elephant is on BBC One tomorrow at 9pm.