Jumbo

By: Paul Chambers

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Synopsis: JUMBO is the wonderful, colourful biography of thegreatest elephant ever known, Jumbo (from whom we getour word). Born in Africa in 1863, Jumbo was orphaned byivory-hunters, ?rescued? and taken to France. Mistaken fora runt, he was sold to London Zoo, where he became thefavourite of the British populace, from Queen Victoria to theyoung Winston Churchill ? until, talent-spotted by theAmerican circus-owner P. T. Barnum, and despite publicoutcry and Royal protestations, he was taken across theAtlantic to New York. There, having once more conqueredpublic hearts and now a beast of giant proportions, amongother exploits he ?befriended? a smaller elephant, TomThumb ? in saving whose life he was to meet a tragic end(involving a railway line and a fast ? for 1885 ? train ? )The book not only unravels the story, but also looks atJumbo from a zoologist?s point of view. Why was hethought to be a runt? What helped or hindered him inadapting to unfamiliar surroundings from one hemisphere ofthe globe to the other? How was he likely to have reactedto the overwhelming public attention ? and to isolation fromhis natural habitat? The author draws illuminatingly onmodern knowledge of elephant behaviour and biology toshed light on the mysteries surrounding Jumbo?s life.