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elephant bull 1986? Meli park

Discussion in 'Belgium' started by elephantastic, 14 Mar 2021.

  1. elephantastic

    elephantastic Member

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    hello,

    noticed someone else asked about an elephant that used to live in Belgium Meli Park (changed into Plopsaland)
    the summer of 1986, (a guess but am quite sure), there used to be a man, dressed in typical circus clothing so perhaps he worked in/for a circus, who used to have a performing act with a young elephant that summer, quite sure it was a bull but not 100% sure.
    he also had a St Bernard dog.
    the elephant was around 4years old, no other elephants that i am aware of.
    sad situation of course.
    don't think it is the same elephant the other person was asking about, i've seen a post card of an elephant at Meli park, earlier date, in the 1970's, maybe it was that elephant this person was asking about, not the one from 1986, and i don't think the elephant i am hoping to find news about was living at the Meli park, think they were just visiting and performing there while traveling around wih the circus, or perhaps it was his private elephant?
    now, the name, always seem to remember something such as Bouliie or Bully or something like that but really not sure at all.
    and perhaps the man was from Sweden, or the circus was Swedish, but also vague and not at all sure.

    any help or info = very many thanks in advance!
     
  2. Gorilla Gust

    Gorilla Gust Well-Known Member

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    The elephants in Meli Park were not part of a permanent animalcollection, but from a summer-circusact. Also mid '90 thiere was a similar summer-act with an elephant.
     
  3. elephantastic

    elephantastic Member

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    Thank you for your answer!
    I kind of thought it could've been something like you suggested, some kind of carnival/moving circus-act deal with local zoo's, parks,...
    Still clueless if the man was from Sweden, perhaps it was Switzerland.
    Someone said they thought his name was Wendel or spelled Wendell.
    Don't know if that might be correct.

    Anyway, probably so difficult to know whatever happened to the elephant.
    And saying it was a bull of around 4 years old, I think they rarely ever work with bulls, until a certain age it might be possible but once they become 'teenagers' it is so difficult so I suspect it was not a male but a female elephant.

    Anyway, once again, thank you very much (and ps: damn, Gust the gorilla, that makes me go back into time)

    Cheers!
     
  4. Gorilla Gust

    Gorilla Gust Well-Known Member

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    Small remark. In 1976 the petting zoo from Meli also had a younger elephant (only temporary). This was mentioned during the meli-revival in 2016 (in Plopsaland).
     
  5. elephantastic

    elephantastic Member

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    Hi,

    Thank you very much for the photos and your help with the info!
    The photo with the elephant I discovered last year on the internet thinking
    "YES that must be THE elephant I'm searching for..."
    Until I noticed that the date was from around 1974 (on a postcard somewhere on the internet it says 1974 on the background, if I remember correctly...don't know)
    but so no, not from around 1986 so a different elephant.
    Don't think I'll ever discover more about that elephant. Perhaps it is better that way...

    Thank you again for your help, cheers!!
     
  6. MennoPebesma

    MennoPebesma Well-Known Member

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    This website keeps track of elephants in zoos around the world as closely as possible: Petra Prager – Elefanten-Fotolexikon

    When I search for the name Bully, two elephants come up. An African elephant cow and an Asian elephant cow. One is still alive, the other has already died. But both lived in a circus. Maybe one if these elephants is the one you are looking for?
     
  7. elephantastic

    elephantastic Member

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    thank you!
    for some reason i cannot access the Petra Prager website anymore, much to my regret, it was my source (and loved watching all those pictures!!)
    i e-mailed her last year via the website, asking the same question if she perhaps knew about this elephant but suddenly i couldn't access the website anymore, clueless why, i hope it was not because she blocked me thinking i was some kind of, i don't know, hacker or whatever it is called.
    since then i can only use The elephant database as a source, they have a few Bully named listed, sometimes, nickname.
    ah, well, it is probably a mission impossible to find him/her and i better not know i suppose.
    anyway, thank you for your help!!!
     
  8. Elephantelephant

    Elephantelephant Well-Known Member

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    I also had several problems with the fact that after sending the query via the server, I did not get to Petr Prager elefanten fotolexikon. It was always when I copied a link there. It only helped to disconnect the computer from the Internet and restart the Internet (wifi, for example) and the computer, unfortunately I no longer know how exactly I solved it. It's some mistake.
     
    Gorilla Gust likes this.
  9. elephantastic

    elephantastic Member

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    hello elephantelephant,

    sadly your tip (or i did not the right re-start/disconnect whatever, me and digi/eletro world are NOT a match and not friends at all, i have to admit) didn't seem to have done the trick for me as i still can't access the website. always get this message since it happened when i e-mailed her directly via the website or used the guestbook, can't remember exactly.
    anyway, always receive this message :


    503 Service Unavailable
    Our apologies for the temporary inconvenience. The requested URL generated 503 "Service Unavailable" error due to overloading or maintenance of the server.


    but still, thanks for trying to help and am very glad it did the trick in your case as it is a wonderful website!
     
  10. Gorilla Gust

    Gorilla Gust Well-Known Member

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    I had a similar issue when i reached the website by google (due to an incorrect referral-link). But the website works when i manually adjust the adress. :)
     
  11. Elephantelephant

    Elephantelephant Well-Known Member

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    Exactly the same thing also showed me, but as I said, maybe I did it a little differently, I don't remember much. But I don't know how I always managed it.:(:confused: