Queenie (Melbourne elephant)

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Children on Queenie the elephant at Melbourne Zoo, 1917 Queenie.JPG
Children on Queenie the elephant at Melbourne Zoo, 1917

Queenie was a female Indian elephant who was used to give rides for children at Melbourne Zoo for 40 years.

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Born in the wild, in India around 1900, she arrived at Melbourne Zoo in March 1902, and started carrying joy-riders in 1905. [1] [2] Queenie carried 64,447 people, during the year 1929. [3] By 1937, she had carried an estimated 1.5 million passenger and had walked over 19,000 miles. In the year 1936, she earned the zoo £718/7/4, [4] at a time when the basic wage was only £3/12/- per week. [5]

Queenie was a very popular exhibit, with large crowds of children often gathering around her enclosure even when she was not giving rides. She was often teased by children and her keeper, Andrew Wilkie, said she would retaliate by using her trunk to "tumble such trespassers over in the dust".

"On one occasion, a group of about fifteen schoolboys were teasing Queenie by offering her nuts and fruit in turn and then withdrawing the food just as she reached for it. This game continued for a while until the elephant retreated to the pool behind her house. She returned some minutes later and, imitating their behaviour, held out her trunk to each boy in turn, withdrawing it before they would touch it. The boys were delighted with this variation of the game until, as if carrying out a pre-planned attack, she soaked them all thoroughly with a well-aimed spray of dirty water from her pool." [6]

She was euthanized, in July 1945, ten months after she crushed keeper Wilfred Lawson to death in September 1944. [1] [7] [8] She was fretting after her keeper's death. [8] Although withdrawn from service providing rides and that she had been found to be dangerous by a coronial inquiry, it was the high cost of keeping her fed that led to her death. [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Fenton, Corrinne. Queenie: One Elephant's Story. Walker Books. pp. Blurb. ISBN   978-1742032153.
  2. "Queenie at Melbourne Zoo in Australia - Elephant Encyclopedia and Database". www.elephant.se. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  3. ""QUEENIE," THE ELEPHANT, HAS BUSY YEAR". Herald. 1930-02-28. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  4. ""QUEENIE" THE ELEPHANT". Daily Examiner. 1937-02-10. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  5. "THE BASIC WAGE". Dandenong Journal. 1937-07-08. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  6. Melbourne Zoo
  7. "Melbourne Zoo Elephant Killed". Daily Telegraph. 1945-07-06. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  8. 1 2 "ZOO ELEPHANT "FRETTING"". Sydney Morning Herald. 1944-09-21. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-04-29.

Sources