Jenny (1899 – February 1941), was a 20th-century female

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

probably born in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Jenny was exported to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, between 1915 and 1917 she was put into a work service in the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

being one of the very few elephants serving in the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

armies in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

History

Jenny was born in 1899, probably in Ceylon. In 1904, at the age of five she was bought by

Carl Hagenbeck Carl Hagenbeck (10 June 1844 – 14 April 1913) was a Germans, German merchant of wild animals who supplied many European zoos, as well as P. T. Barnum. He created the modern zoo with animal enclosures without bars that were closer to their natur ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

merchant of

wild animal Wildlife refers to undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also ...

s, and transferred to his zoo

Tierpark Hagenbeck The Tierpark Hagenbeck is a zoo in Stellingen, Hamburg, Germany. The collection began in 1863 with animals that belonged to Carl Hagenbeck Sr. (1810–1887), a fishmonger who became an amateur animal collector. The park itself was founded by Ca ...

in Hamburg. After the beginning of World War I Jenny was transported by train to the occupied north of France at the initiative of the German commanding officer of the

Avesnes Avesnes (, Picard: ''Avinne'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography The commune is a very small village situated some 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Montreuil-sur-Mer, on the D 129 E 1. Population ...

area, arriving in January or April 1915. Her German

mahout A mahout is an elephant rider, trainer, or keeper. Mahouts were used since antiquity for both civilian and military use. Traditionally, mahouts came from ethnic groups with generations of elephant keeping experience, with a mahout retainin ...

(keeper), Matthias Walter, who was drafted into the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

in 1914, was recalled and sent to Avesnes to look after the animal. The elephant worked at various tasks to help German

war effort War effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and civilian—towards the support of a military force, particular during a state of war. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...

s on the occupied territory like pushing rail wagons of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

, pulling the

plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...

or carrying wood logs. In 1916, Germans transferred Jenny and her mahout, by train again, to Felleries, where she took part in the logging work in the surrounding forests. Jenny was capable of moving 50 logs a day, as much as twelve horses. She also participated in circus performances for the German soldiers. Her photos were widely used as a part of German

war propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

. On 2 April 1917, the elephant returned to Hamburg and was sold to the ''Circus Strassbourger'' from

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. Jenny spent her last years in the

Jardin d'Acclimatation The Jardin d'Acclimatation () is a children's amusement park in the northern part of the Bois de Boulogne in western Paris, alongside other attractions. History Opened on 6 October 1860 by Napoléon III and Empress Eugénie, this Paris zoo wa ...

zoo in Paris, where she died in February 1941 at age of approximately 41 or 42 years.

Memory

In 2015, a life-size steel and wicker statue of Jenny was erected in Felleries (4 m long and 2.5 m wide).

References

General and cited references

Literature

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External links