Can somebody provide me some information about the, at least, three African elephants Whipsnade had in the 70´s. I have the guidebook from 1977, with a photograph of 3 African and 1 Asian elephant in it.
Whipsnade had one bull African which was said to be a "forest elephant" also they had a mix of both species there for years
In 1977 Whipsnade would have had the following elephants: Jumbo III (African M) b.1967 in Cameroon (i.e. cyclotis); arr. 23.08.1973; died 18.12.1988 Katie (African F) b.1967 in Zambia; arr. 05.09.1967; died 30.10.1989 M'Samva (African F) b.1968 in Zambia; arr. 22.10.1968; died 27.07.1981 Kumara (Asian F) b.1966 arr. 27.05.1967; to Chester 02.05.1989; died 08.10.2001
It may have been complete, but it may also have been misleading! The same picture was used in the 1976 guidebook and I suspect that the third African elephant was M'Tendre rather than Jumbo III. M'Tendre arrived with M'Samva on 22.10.1968 but left for Edinburgh on 11.05.1976. She returned to Whipsnade on 05.05.1989 and then left for Longleat on 22.11.1990 where she died in 1991.
It is, perhaps, worth adding that the male African forest elephant, ‘Jumbo III’, was presented to Queen Elizabeth II by the Cameroon government. Surprisingly, he was originally housed in the Children’s Zoo at Crystal Palace; he was then kept at London Zoo for while before going to Whipsnade. I recall seeing him at London Zoo on the Cotton Terraces, not in the Elephant and Rhino Pavilion.
