The history of elephants in Europe dates back to the time of the Roman Empire, but previously, during the Ice Age, relatives of elephants were spread across the globe, including Europe. Mammoths roamed the northern parts of the Earth, from Europe to North America. The straight-tusked elephant of mainland Europe principally inhabited the Mediterranean, but reached the rest of Europe during warm interglacial periods. While it went extinct during the last Ice Age, insular dwarf forms such as the Cyprus dwarf elephant, the pygmy elephant, the Naxos dwarf elephant and the Rhodes dwarf elephant survived longer, and the last Mediterranean elephant species survived on Tilos until about 4000 years ago. Subsequently the presence of actual elephants in Europe was only due to importation of these animals.
Strand is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London's West End theatreland, runs just over 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4, a main road running west from inner London.
A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoo or zoological garden.
George Wombwell was a famous menagerie exhibitor in Regency and early Victorian Britain. He founded Wombwell's Travelling Menagerie.
The Exeter Exchange was a building on the north side of the Strand in London, with an arcade extending partway across the carriageway. It is most famous for the menagerie that occupied its upper floors for over fifty years, from 1773 until the building was demolished in 1829.
Cecil House refers to two historical mansions on The Strand, London, in the vicinity of the Savoy. The first was a 16th-century house on the north side, where the Strand Palace Hotel now stands. The second was built in the early 17th century on the south side nearly opposite, where Shell Mex House stands today.
The Zoological Garden, Alipore is India's oldest formally stated zoological park and a big tourist attraction in Kolkata, West Bengal. It has been open as a zoo since 1876, and covers 18.811 ha. It is probably best known as the home of the Aldabra giant tortoise Adwaita, who was reputed to have been over 250 years old when he died in 2006. It is also home to one of the few captive breeding projects involving the Manipur brow-antlered deer. One of the most popular tourist attractions in Kolkata, it draws huge crowds during the winter season, especially during December and January. The highest attendance till date was on January 1, 2018 with 110,000 visitors.
Stephen Polito (1763/4–1814) was a menagerie owner of Italian descent in Georgian England.
The Adams mammoth is the first woolly mammoth skeleton with skin and flesh still attached to be recovered by scientists. The mostly complete skeleton and flesh were discovered in 1799 in northeastern Siberia by Ossip Shumachov, an Evenki hunter and subsequently recovered in 1806 when Russian botanist Mikhail Adams journeyed to the location and collected the remains.
William Wadd was a 19th-century British surgeon and medical author.
Edward Cross was an English zoo proprietor and dealer in animals.
John Barclay was a Scottish comparative anatomist, extramural teacher in anatomy, and director of the Highland Society of Scotland.
Charles Jamrach was a leading dealer in wildlife, birds and shells in 19th-century London. He owned an exotic pet store on the Ratcliffe Highway in east London — at the time the largest such shop in the world. Jamrach's nearest rival was Edward Cross, who ran a menagerie at Exeter Exchange on the Strand.
Jesse Foot was an English surgeon and biographer.
Edward Pearson (1756–1811) was an English academic and theologian, Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge from 1808.
Kendra Haste is a British wildlife artist who produces both public and privately commissioned sculptures using galvanised chicken wire mesh to create wire sculptures of wild animals. She is a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists, the Royal British Society of Sculptors and the Society of Animal Artists. She lives in Surrey, England.
Bartholomew Parr FRS FRSE (1750–1810) was an 18th-century British physician and medical author, known for his London Medical Dictionary published in 1809.
Winchelsea was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made 11 voyages for the EIC before she was broken up in 1834.
The elephant of Henry III was an animal of the king's Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London. The elephant is thought to be one given by Egypt to Louis IX of France as a diplomatic gift during the Seventh Crusade. The animal was given to Henry III as he was travelling through France in late 1254. It was kept for a while at Wissant on the northern French coast, whilst transport was arranged to England.
