Editing Jumbo (section)

==History==
Jumbo was born around December 25, 1860, in [[Sudan]],<ref name="Chambers(2008)"/> and after his mother was killed by [[poaching|poacher]]s, the infant Jumbo was captured by Sudanese elephant poacher Taher Sheriff and German big-game poacher Johann Schmidt.<ref name="Chambers(2008)"/> The calf was sold to Lorenzo Casanova, an Italian animal dealer and explorer. Casanova transported the animals that he had bought from Sudan north to [[Suez]], and then across the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to [[Trieste]].

[[File:Jumbo and Matthew Scott giving a ride to children about the Zoo.png|thumb|upright|left|Jumbo and Matthew Scott giving a ride to children in [[London Zoo]]]]
This collection was sold to Gottlieb Christian Kreutzberg's "Menagerie Kreutzberg" in Germany.<ref name="St.Thomas">{{cite web|url=https://stthomaspubliclibrary.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Jumbo-March-2014.pdf|title=The Life of Jumbo the Elephant|publisher=[[St. Thomas Public Library]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418213206/http://stthomaspubliclibrary.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Jumbo-March-2014.pdf|archive-date=18 April 2016|access-date=22 August 2016}}</ref> Soon after, the elephant was imported to France and kept in the Paris zoo [[Jardin des Plantes]]. In 1865, he was transferred to the [[London Zoo]] and arrived on 26 June.<ref name="bbc" /> In the following years, Jumbo became a crowd favorite due to his size, and would give rides to children on his back, including those of [[Queen Victoria]].

While in London, Jumbo broke both tusks, and when they regrew, he ground them down against the stonework of his enclosure.<ref name="bbc" /> His keeper in London was Matthew Scott, whose 1885 autobiography details his life with Jumbo.<ref name="bbc" />

[[File:Jumbo refuses to leave London Zoo.png|thumb|upright|"Jumbo's pitiful refusal to leave London Zoo tugged at the nation's heartstrings"]]
In 1882, Abraham Bartlett, superintendent of the London zoo, sparked national controversy with his decision to sell Jumbo to the American entertainer Phineas T. Barnum of the [[Barnum & Bailey Circus]] for £2,000 (US$10,000).<ref name=St.Thomas/> This decision came as a result of concern surrounding Jumbo's growing aggression and potential to cause a public disaster. The sale of Jumbo, however, sent the citizens of London into a panic, because they viewed the transaction as an enormous loss for the British empire. 100,000 school children wrote to [[Queen Victoria]] begging her not to sell the elephant.{{efn|''The Elephant War'' (1960) by [[Gillian Avery]] is a historical novel featuring the protest movement based in Oxford.}} 

[[File:Jumbo's Journey to the Docks.jpg|thumb|left|Jumbo's Journey to the Docks, ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'', 1 April 1882]]
[[John Ruskin]], a fellow of the [[Zoological Society of London|Zoological Society]], wrote in ''[[The Morning Post]]'' in February 1882: "I, for one of the said fellows, am not in the habit of selling my old pets or parting with my old servants because I find them subject occasionally, perhaps even "periodically," to fits of ill temper; and I not only "regret" the proceedings of the council, but disclaim them utterly, as disgraceful to the city of London and dishonourable to common humanity."<ref>Complete works of John Ruskin, Vol 34 Page 560.[https://web.archive.org/web/20181118095056if_/http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/depts/ruskinlib/stormcloud http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/depts/ruskinlib/stormcloud] and http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/depts/ruskinlib/Works%20of%20John%20Ruskin</ref> Despite a lawsuit against the Zoological Gardens alleging the sale was in violation of multiple zoo bylaws, and the zoo's attempt to renege on the sale, the court upheld the sale.<ref name=St.Thomas/> Matthew Scott elected to go with Jumbo to the United States.<ref name="bbc" /> The London-based newspaper ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' begged Barnum to lay down terms on which he would return Jumbo; however, no such terms existed in the eyes of Barnum.

In New York, Barnum exhibited Jumbo at [[Madison Square Garden (1879)|Madison Square Garden]], earning enough in three weeks from the enormous crowds to recoup the money he spent to buy the animal.<ref name=St.Thomas/><ref>[http://hockey.ballparks.com/NHL/NewYorkRangers/1stoldindex.htm "Madison Square Garden I"] on Ballpark.com</ref>  In the 31-week season, the circus earned $1.75M, largely due to its star attraction.<ref name=St.Thomas/> On May 17, 1884, Jumbo was one of Barnum's 21 elephants that crossed the [[Brooklyn Bridge]] to demonstrate that it was safe, a year after 15 people died during a stampede precipitated by fear that the bridge might collapse.<ref>{{cite book| last=McCullough|first=David| title=The Great Bridge: the epic story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge |date=2012 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=London|isbn=978-1451683233 | pages=431, 543 |edition=Updated}}</ref> On July 6, 1885, Jumbo was paraded in [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]], [[New Brunswick]], celebrating his first appearance in Canada.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goss |first1=David |title=Saint John, 1877-1980 |date=2010 |publisher=Charleston, SC : Arcadia Pub. |isbn=978-0-7385-7222-2 |page=101 |url=https://archive.org/details/saintjohn18771980000goss/page/100/mode/2up |access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref>