David Attenborough investigates the extremely good life and loss of life of Jumbo the elephant – an animal celeb whose tale is stated to have inspired the movie Dumbo.
Attenborough joins a team of scientists and conservationists to unravel the complex and mysterious tale of this big African elephant – believed by many to be the largest inside the international. With precise acce
ss to Jumbo’s skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History, the crew paintings together to split myth from reality. How large was Jumbo clearly? How become he handled in captivity? And how did he die? Jumbo’s bones may also offer critical clues.
Arriving in London Zoo in 1865, Jumbo fast became a organization favourite of Queen Victoria and her children, and turned into nicknamed the Children’s Pet. Yet backstage, this mild massive changed into dwelling a double lifestyles – smashing his den, breaking his tusks and being pacified via big amounts of alcohol given to him through his keeper, Matthew Scott. Scott had no human friends however had a deep empathy for animals, developing a especially strong and near mystical bond with Jumbo.
Then, quite suddenly, London Zoo precipitated public outrage by using promoting Jumbo to PT Barnum’s circus in America, in which he travelled together with his devoted keeper to start a brand new lifestyles. But at the same time as his time in America became him into superstar with 20 million humans coming to see him, his life ended tragically and mysteriously.
As nicely as Jumbo’s skeleton, Attenborough explores the lives of untamed elephants to provide an explanation for Jumbo’s stricken mind, and he discovers how our mindset to captive elephants has modified dramatically in recent years.