Abstract
ONE of the elephants in Barnum and Bailey's Show, which has been visiting Liverpool during the past two weeks, having recently shown signs of insubordination, Mr. Bailey determined, in order to perfectly safeguard his visitors, to sacrifice the animal. He has had during his life occasion to destroy many elephants, which, as a rule, he has handed over to experienced veterinary and other surgeons, who have tried various methods, such as poisoning, shooting and bleeding. All have proved, however, unsatisfactory, because uncertain, tedious, and not seldom dangerous to those engaged in conducting the operations. On this occasion it was determined, after consultation with several experts and with the Secretary of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to kill the elephant by strangulation, which had once before been adopted with success by Mr. Bailey. Accordingly it was arranged that on a recent Sunday morning—the day most suitable to the Show people and that freest from intrusion by the public—Don, as the doomed elephant, who was supposed to be about twenty-two years of age and nearly 4½ tons in weight, was named, should be strangled.
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The Strangling of an Elephant. Nature 58, 115–116 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/058115a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/058115a0