Jack (died 1890) was a
Chacma baboon who was an
assistant to a disabled
railway signalman, James Wide, in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.
Biography
Jack was the pet and assistant of double leg amputee signalman James Wide, who worked for the Cape Town–Port Elizabeth Railway service. James "Jumper" Wide had been known for jumping between railcars until an accident where he fell and lost both of his legs below the knee. To assist in performing his duties, Wide purchased Jack in 1881, and trained him to push his wheelchair and to operate the railways signals under supervision.
An official investigation was initiated after someone reported that a baboon was observed changing railway signals at
Uitenhage near
Port Elizabeth
Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...
.
After initial skepticism, the railway decided to officially employ Jack once his job competency was verified. He was paid twenty cents a day, and half a bottle of
beer
Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
each week. It is widely reported that in his nine years of employment with the railway company, Jack never made a single mistake.
Jack died of tuberculosis in 1890. His skull is in the collection of the
Albany Museum in
Grahamstown.
According to a letter published in ''
Nature
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'', Jack
Popular culture
Jack was referenced on the second series of XFM Radio's ''
The Ricky Gervais Show'' by producer
Karl Pilkington as part of his regular feature, "Monkey News".
His recounting of the story was broadly accurate, but co-hosts
Ricky Gervais and
Stephen Merchant quickly disregarded the account.
See also
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List of individual monkeys
References
Sources
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External links
Jack the Signalman by Pieter du Plessis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack (baboon)
Service animal
Individual baboons
History of Gqeberha
1890 animal deaths
Individual animals in South Africa
19th century in South Africa
Amputation
Rail transport in South Africa
History of rail transport in South Africa
Railway accidents and incidents in South Africa
Railway signalling