238:, which afflicts all non-castrated male elephants, whereby bull males, of a certain age and thereafter, are flooded with high levels of testosterone and show heightened aggression and unpredictability), which was treated for years with copious amounts of purgatives, the results and side effects of which were never memorialised. It was considered that if this treatment worked at all it was only because "the peristaltics of the bowels continuously operating at maximum velocity might well have had a fatiguing influence even on an ungovernable elephant".
290:
commands to kneel upright and, amazingly, he obeyed. He was finally shot in the gullet (throat) and fell while the firing continued. The gullet shot was reportedly delivered by
William Herring, who was Edward Cross's brother-in-law. Spears were then used. Chunee was finally finished off by either a sabre attached to a pole, or, according to at least one source, a poisoned harpoon. Some called him "the elephant who refused to die". It was reported that the "quantity of blood that flowed was very considerable, and flooded the den to a great depth."
219:
not pierced by the elephant's tusks, but fell to the ground unconscious and was worked on by Chunee with his trunk until Edward Cross was able to distract the elephant. Copps was extracted from the cage. The reason for the attack remains unknown. Cross was concerned but ultimately decided to keep Chunee, the menagerie's star attraction. Copps remained with the exchange until 1822 (when he became the last Keeper of the Royal
Menagerie at the
207:
22:
258:-esque jurisprudence, Chunee was fined one shilling by a coroner's jury for this. However, fearing for his reputation, Cross tried to sell Chunee for £500 to an American showman, then travelling through England. No ship captain would agree, however, to take aboard such a huge creature on the long voyage even if Chunee could have been somehow transported from his quarters.
471:
299:
226:
By 1820, Chunee had more than doubled in size since his arrival in
England, requiring new quarters -- an "upstairs cage, made of iron-bound oak bars, three feet in girth" -- which cost Cross £350. Chunee by then was consuming 800 pounds of hay, corn, straw, carrots, mangel wurzel, and biscuit daily.
241:
His frustrated libido and matelessness were aggravated by relatively cramped quarters in which he lived in forcible seclusion as there was no way of conveying him, due to his size and weight, in and out of the exchange building. Exactly when he ceased being taken out for Sunday walks is unclear but
218:
In 1815, Chunee attacked his keeper, Alfred Copps (or Cops), a competent man with whom Chunee had seemed to enjoy a good relationship and who, up to that point, seemed to have had Chunee under control. He had taught Chunee some of his tricks. Chunee forced Copps into a corner of the cage. Copps was
289:
were fired but Chunee kept rising each time he had been thought to be mortally wounded, appearing more frantic each time and on the verge of bringing down the entire exchange building. Muskets which had been aimed at his heart had instead hit his shoulder blade. His keepers called out his old
269:
By 26 February 1826, he was close to destroying the den that had withstood his lunges over the previous four years. There was justified fear that his lunges would bring down the ceiling or allow him to burst through the bars and escape into the Strand, with possibly all the other animals, and
157:"between ten and eleven feet in height, and weighs at least, by computation, between four and five tons. This huge mountain of flesh consumes daily three trusses of hay, and about two hundred weight of carrots and other fresh vegetables, together with from sixty to eighty gallons of water"
185:. He was retired from the stage owing to "uncertain temper and stage fright" and subsequent poor reviews from audiences and critics during the pantomime role, which would be his last. He was relocated to the Exeter Exchange and learned tricks including being trained to take a
270:
resultant human casualties. Carpenters refused to mend the damage out of fear of the enraged pachyderm. It was decided that Chunee was now too dangerous. Three days later (Wednesday, 1 March), his keepers tried in different ways to feed him food which had been laced with
128:, but was bought by Polito (along with a two-headed cow, kangaroos, beavers, and exotic birds) from the estate of Gilbert Pidcock of the Exeter Exchange after Pidcock's death in 1810. After Polito's death, the menagerie was eventually purchased by
250:, which, according to William Ellis-Rees, Chunee brought on himself, when, while assailing the wooden bars of the den cage, a "splinter of ivory set up an inflammation in the pulp of the tusk, and Chuny, maddened by the pain, went berserk."
266:(a fungicide), tartar emetic (expectorant), gamboge (purgative), and croton oil (purgative)", with a tub of hot ale to effectuate it, failed to work. Six pounds of beef bone marrow, however, ameliorated only briefly and he was given more.
261:
By
February 1826, permanently enraged, the elephant's "eyes now glared like lenses of glass reflecting a red and burning light", according to one account. On 20 February 1826, he acted out. A laxative made "of salts, treacle,
253:
On 1 November 1825, Chunee accidentally killed one of his keepers, Johann
Tietjen, a native of Germany. While being cleaned, he turned too sharply and one of his tusks embedded in the unfortunate Tietjen's ribs. In a bit of
193:
before returning it. He was also trained to ring the bell for the menagerie supper every evening at nine o'clock. He could use his trunk to take a penny from his keeper to buy a cake from an old cake-seller. An entry in
198:'s journal records a visit to Exeter Exchange on 14 November 1813, when "The elephant took and gave me my money again—took off my hat—opened a door—trunked a whip—and behaved so well, that I wish he was my butler."
352:
reported that two large steaks from Chunee's rump were broiled and eaten by those dismantling his corpse. Noting that stewed elephant's foot was a delicacy, the magazine provided its readers with a recipe.
166:. Kean "kept up an acquaintance" with the elephant who showed his appreciation for the actor, "whom he would fondle with his trunk" in exchange for loaves of bread. Chunee's appearances included
706:
652:
578:
755:
341:
Museum until 11 May 1941 when the museum was almost entirely destroyed by a direct hit from an Axis bombing during WWII. Chunee's skeleton was destroyed.
162:
Tame for most of his life but not as docile as it was sometimes claimed, Chunee was originally a theatrical animal, appearing onstage with famed thespian
675:
398:
760:
519:
745:
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protesting the circumstances of Chunee's death and the alleged poor quality of the living conditions of the animals in the menagerie. The
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448:
242:
it was clearly before he took up domicile in the larger quarters upstairs, in 1820. Added to this, he suffered latterly by a rotten
765:
89:
Mr Polito ... has obtained possession of a remarkably fine
Elephant, brought to England in the Hon. East India Company's ship,
664:
Jane
Goodall, Performance and Evolution in the Age of Darwin , Routledge, Chapman & Hall 2002; ISBN 978-0415243780 , p. 31
750:
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107:] fair on Monday; and it is expected he will be offered for public inspection for a day or two, in this town [
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Increasingly intractable and sometimes violent during his last four years, this was attributed to an "annual
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was founded the following month (April 1826). The controversy was the inspiration for a successful play at
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380:
The menagerie at Exeter
Exchange declined in popularity after Chunee's death. The animals were moved to
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125:
679:
309:
entrance fee to see his carcass butchered, and then dissected by doctors and medical students from the
606:
139:
At the time of Chunee's death, when he was believed to be around 22 years old, he weighed at least 5
676:"The Exeter Exchange, The Strand, London. A nineteenth century description from London Old and New"
94:
133:
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in 1814. The events which led to Chunee being put down at Cross's orders 12 years later became a
55:
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Chunee arrived in 1811 (some sources mistakenly state 1810) and was originally exhibited at the
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for £50. Chunee's skeleton, along with a display of the affected tusk, was on display in the
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The manner of Chunee's death was widely publicised, with illustrations printed in popular
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45:
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68:, from Bengal, arriving in England in July 1811. Two other two elephants, also owned by
381:
275:
144:
69:
729:
330:
318:
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59:
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ships between 1809 and 1811. The third of these was Chunee. He travelled on the
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weighed 876 lb (397 kg), and was sold for £100 and exhibited at the
108:
21:
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A divided nature : the representation of animals in
Britain, c.1750-1850
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poems were published such as "Farewell, poor Chuny". Letters were printed in
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175:
76:
16:
India-born
British menagerie elephant put down after becoming ungovernable
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at some point, arrived in England. The first arrived in September 1809.
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263:
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279:
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48:
521:
The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural Histoat
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of volley after volley being shot into his profusely bleeding body.
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but Chunee refused each time to eat it. Soldiers were summoned from
503:"Horror in the Strand: The Death of the Elephant of Exeter Change"
297:
235:
205:
140:
20:
505:, London-Overlooked.com, 16 September 2018. Accessed 26 May 2024.
243:
103:
329:, the bullet holes clearly visible. His skin weighed 17
143:, stood between 10 and 11 feet tall, and was valued at
375:
Chuneelah; or, The Death of the Elephant at Exeter 'Change
711:. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 171–173.
655:, mystaffordshirefigures.com. Accessed 30 May 2024.
607:"College of Surgeons (Royal), Lincoln's Inn Fields"
441:
Menagerie: The History of Exotic Animals in England
384:in 1828, and the exchange was demolished in 1829.
333:(1,900 lb or 860 kg), and was sold to a
629:"Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields"
325:, and later at the Royal College of Surgeons in
189:from visitors to the menagerie to hold with his
75:The second elephant was brought to England from
111:], on his way to the Exeter 'Change London.
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210:Illustration for magazine article by engraver
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429:
8:
497:
495:
493:
491:
489:
524:via books.google.com. Accessed 25 May 2024.
474:via books.google.com. Accessed 25 May 2024.
179:Harlequin and Padmanaba, or the Golden Fish
54:Three elephants were brought to England in
40:; born c. 1804 – died 1 March 1826) was an
553:, michaelkemp.co.uk. Accessed 23 May 2024.
573:
571:
483:London Society, Volume 6 (1834), pg. 510.
515:
513:
511:
541:, geriwalton.com. Accessed 23 May 2024.
534:
532:
530:
425:
399:Elephant execution in the United States
147:1,000. Cross had insured him for £500.
223:) but never dealt with Chunee again.
155:Chunee was described at one point as
7:
584:Royal College of Surgeons of England
579:"Royal College of Surgeon's Museum"
377:, which ran for around six months.
756:History of the City of Westminster
551:"The Death of Chunee the Elephant"
472:Animal Kingdom: The class Mammalia
305:Hundreds of people paid the usual
14:
690:– via exetersystems.com.au.
539:"The Death of a Regency Elephant"
443:, Oxford University Press, 2016;
616:– via victorianlondon.org.
214:depicting the shooting of Chunee
627:Parker, Tabatha (11 May 1941).
79:on the East India Company ship
1:
761:Individual animals in England
97:, which will be exhibited at
394:List of individual elephants
367:Zoological Society of London
172:Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
746:Deaths by firearm in London
653:"Weddings, elephants, etc."
278:to shoot Chunee with their
787:
605:Cunningham, Peter (1850).
565:, volume 21 (August 1882).
339:Royal College of Surgeons
311:Royal College of Surgeons
183:Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
563:Popular Science Monthly
462:(23 April 1810), pg. 4.
766:19th century in London
705:Donald, Diana (2007).
302:
215:
122:
26:
301:
246:which gave him a bad
209:
202:Later years and death
126:Covent Garden Theatre
24:
751:Individual elephants
501:William Ellis-Rees.
327:Lincoln's Inn Fields
95:Capt. William Moffat
460:Hampshire Chronicle
439:Grigson, Caroline.
117:Hampshire Chronicle
741:1826 animal deaths
303:
216:
56:East India Company
27:
674:Beswick, Thomas.
25:Chunee's skeleton
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678:. Archived from
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409:Topsy (elephant)
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119:, 23 April 1810.
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682:on 15 July 2005
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414:Tyke (elephant)
404:Mary (elephant)
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221:Tower of London
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115:
42:Indian elephant
32:(also known as
17:
12:
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5:
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718:978-0300126792
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371:Sadler's Wells
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276:Somerset House
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85:in June 1810.
70:Stephen Polito
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60:East Indiaman
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23:
19:
736:1800s births
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684:. Retrieved
680:the original
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636:. Retrieved
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610:. Retrieved
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588:. Retrieved
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287:musket balls
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212:Joseph Swain
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37:
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18:
382:King's Mews
373:, entitled
164:Edmund Kean
82:Walthamstow
730:Categories
420:References
350:The Mirror
346:newssheets
323:Piccadilly
196:Lord Byron
174:, and the
168:Blue Beard
109:Winchester
101: [
91:Winchelsea
686:25 August
638:25 August
612:25 August
590:25 August
362:The Times
294:Aftermath
248:toothache
181:, at the
176:pantomime
170:, at the
77:Sri Lanka
38:Chuneelah
388:See also
315:skeleton
307:shilling
232:paroxysm
187:sixpence
114:—
357:Maudlin
280:muskets
264:calomel
46:Regency
715:
447:
335:tanner
313:. His
272:poison
151:Career
141:tonnes
99:Rumsey
65:Astell
49:London
30:Chunee
236:musth
191:trunk
34:Chuny
713:ISBN
688:2021
640:2021
614:2021
592:2021
445:ISBN
285:152
244:tusk
331:cwt
321:in
234:" (
136:.
104:sic
44:in
36:or
732::
631:.
581:.
570:^
529:^
510:^
488:^
428:^
282:.
159:.
93:,
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51:.
721:.
642:.
594:.
145:£
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