Jumbo, the World's Famous Elephant
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 Published On Dec 16, 2023

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This is a monument in St. Thomas, Ontario of Jumbo the Elephant which was the world's most famous elephant in the late 1800s.

Jumbo was born in 1861 in Sudan, Africa and taken to a Paris zoo for a short time before being transferred to The London Zoo in 1865 where he became a favourite among the citizens of London. Children loved him most as they often took rides on him. Scott Wheeler was his keeper, and he and Jumbo were very close. As he matured, he started to become more aggressive, so it was of concern he may be dangerous.

In 1882, P. T. Barnum purchased Jumbo for $10,000 USD for his circus shows, Barnum and Bailey's Circus. Jumbo was very hesitant to board the ship at the dock in order to leave London, England to be shipped across the Atlantic to North America, and the citizens were very upset to see him go.

Jumbo travelled with the Barnum and Bailey's Circus throughout North America for circus shows.

In 1885, while in St. Thomas for a show, Jumbo was struck by an unscheduled locomotive and sadly died while heading back to his circus train car. To mark the death of his 100th year anniversary, the City of St. Thomas paid a Canadian artist, Winston Bronnum, from New Brunswick, to create a life-sized statue of Jumbo in 1985 which is made of concrete and steel paying him $70,000 CAD.

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