.jpg) Jenny with her mahout Matthias Walter carriyng logs in northern France, c. 1915 | |
| Species | Asian elephant |
|---|---|
| Sex | Female |
| Born | 1899 probably Ceylon |
| Died | February 1941 (aged approximately 42 years) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Zoo and circus attraction |
| Owner | |
| Height | 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in) |
Jenny (1899 – February 1941), was a 20th-century female Asian elephant probably born in Ceylon. Jenny was exported to Germany, between 1915 and 1917 she was put into a work service in the Imperial German Army being one of the very few elephants serving in the Central Powers armies in World War I.
History
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Jenny was born in 1899, probably in Ceylon. In 1904, at the age of five she was bought by Carl Hagenbeck, German merchant of wild animals, and transferred to his zoo Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg.
After the beginning of World War I Jenny was transported by train to the occupied north of France at the initiative of the German commanding officer of the Avesnes area, where she arrived there in January or April 1915. Her German mahout (keeper) named Matthias Walter, who was drafted into the Imperial German Navy in 1914, was recalled to Avesnes to look after the animal. The elephant filled multiple work tasks to help German war efforts on the occupied territory like pushing rail wagons of coal, pulling the plough or carrying wood logs. In 1916, Germans transferred Jenny and her mahout, by train again, to Felleries, where she took part in the logging work in the surrounding forests. Jenny was capable to move 50 logs a day, a work for which twelve horses would be needed. She also participated on the circus performances for the German soldiers. Her photos were widely used as a part of German war propaganda.
On 2 April 1917, the elephant returned to Hamburg and was sold to the Circus Strassbourger from Strasbourg. Jenny spent her last years in the Jardin d'Acclimatation zoo in Paris where she died in February 1941 at age of approximately 41 or 42 years.
Memory
In 2015, a life-size steel and wicker statue of Jenny was erected in Felleries (4 m long and 2.5 m wide).
See also
References
- Groning, K.; Saller, M. (1999). Elephants: a Cultural and Natural History. Cologne: Koneman. p. 234.
- Biry-Vicente, Rafaela. "Hommage à Jenny l'éléphante allemande". France 3 Radio. France 3. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- "Jenny, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)". Elephant Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- Folprecht, Radek (27 February 2016). "Sloni za světové války pomáhali tvrdou prací válečnému hospodářství". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- "Jenny, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)". Elephant Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- Biry-Vicente, Rafaela. "Hommage à Jenny l'éléphante allemande". France 3 Radio. France 3. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
General and cited references
Literature
- Lorenz Hagenbeck (1962). Presses pocket (ed.). Ces bêtes que j'aimais tant (in German). René Jouan. p. 253.
- Jean-Michel Boulenger (December 2016). "Il était une fois Felleries, annuaire des activités de 1914 à 1939" (PDF). L'Avesnois Bulletin.
- "Ein Inder, der uns hilft". Das Illustrierte Blatt (in German). 103: 1. 16 July 1916. Retrieved 15 December 2024.