Jumbo the Elephant

Jumbo the Elephant — The Colossus Who Captivated a Continent

On a cold, windy walk through St. Thomas, Ontario, I came upon a striking and bittersweet monument — a life-size statue of Jumbo the Elephant, cast in bronze and standing as both a tribute to wonder and a memorial to loss.

Jumbo, whose name would go on to shape our language — think “jumbo jet,” “jumbotron,” “jumbo-sized” — was an African bush elephant, born in Sudan on Christmas Day, 1860. Orphaned after his mother was killed by poachers, the young calf’s journey into legend began when he was sold to an Italian animal dealer and eventually landed in London’s famed Zoological Gardens by 1865.

Animal keeper, Scott persuades Jumbo to walk through his crate outside the Elephant House at London Zoo, 1882. Scott’s “secret” to controlling Jumbo was the large amounts of alcohol he gave him, specifically Scotch whiskey.

There, Jumbo quickly became a national treasure — beloved by visitors, including Queen Victoria herself — for his sheer size and gentle temperament. But in 1882, controversy erupted when the London Zoo sold Jumbo to the flamboyant American showman P.T. Barnum of Barnum & Bailey Circus for a then-astonishing $10,000 USD.

Despite public protests — including an emotional campaign led by British schoolchildren — Jumbo was shipped across the Atlantic. In just three weeks, Barnum had recouped the cost of his investment, as audiences across America flocked to see “the world’s largest elephant”.

Jumbo made his Canadian debut in Saint John, New Brunswick on July 6, 1885, and by early fall had worked his way to St. Thomas, Ontario.

But tragedy struck.

On the night of September 15, 1885, after finishing a show in St. Thomas, Jumbo was being led along the railway tracks to his circus boxcar. Out of the dark came a speeding freight train. In a final act of instinct, Jumbo reportedly pushed a smaller elephant, Tom Thumb, out of the way, just before being struck himself. The great elephant was killed within minutes.

P. T. Barnum often told a dramatic version of Jumbo’s death, claiming that the great elephant had sacrificed himself to save a smaller companion, the so-called dwarf elephant Tom Thumb.

In the aftermath, English pennies, keys, rivets, and even a police whistle were found in his stomach.

Jumbo died on September 15, 1885. He was 24.

1860-1885

After Jumbo’s death, parts of his skeleton were donated to the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Where they remain.