Josephine
African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) at
Philadelphia Zoo in United States

Biography
dead elephant ☨ ♀ Josephine  dead elephant
Ride elephant Josephine, and keeper Pat Cronin. Philadelphia Zoo May 1, 1938
Ride elephant Josephine, and keeper Pat Cronin. Philadelphia Zoo May 1, 1938
Museum locations
Present / last location:Washington National Museum of Natural History, in United States
Date of arrival
1943-03-12Washington National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, United States
Identification
Museum accession number NMNH USNM 270993
SSP nr5
Description
Species:African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
Sex and age:Female ♀
Characteristics: skull, skeleton, nerve stored in a jar of alcohol
Origin
Born:* wild
Birth place: in West Africa unspecified location
Death
Dead: †1943-03-12
Death reason: unknown:
Locations - owners
Present / last location:Philadelphia Zoo, in United States
Date of arrival
1925-04-04Philadelphia Zoo
from Joseph Shirley
Record history
History of updates2025-03-03: text, picture
Latest document update2025-03-03 05:02:02

† Josephine is a dead Female ♀ African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), , who died 1943-03-12 at Philadelphia Zoo, in United States, .

Museum locationThe Museum specimen remains of this animal is within the collection at Washington National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, DC, United States, since 1943-03-12.


Origin

Josephine was born wild at West Africa unspecified location.


Comments / pictures


Josephine, forest elephant, giving rides at the Philadelphia Zoo on May 1, 1938. She was 16 years old at the time and measured 6' 11" tall (7' 8" at death, apprx. 21 yrs). Rides were offered daily 1pm-5pm weather permitting, supervised by keeper Pat Cronin. It was estimated 175,000 people had rode on her back during the seven years she gave rides.
With prices adjusted for inflation, the cost of rides were:
Children- $0.10 (today $2.25)
Adults- $0.25 (today $5.63)
In the spring of 1942, she was retired from the ride after she tried to attack a child.
"In 1935, Josie began to earn her daily hay (and apples and peanuts, as well as an occasional ice cream cone). On her way back to the elephant house, when the day's work was done, she would insist upon stopping at the Zoo's restaurant. Thrusting her head through the doorway, she would feast upon a basket of bread left from the previous day. Sometimes the keeper would pretend to forget this routine, but when he did Josephine would stop dead in her tracks and refuse to move until she had received the handout she regarded as her due."

Andrew Shek
Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). Josephine, African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) located at Philadelphia Zoo in United States. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 30 March 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=1459. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:


Litterature about Philadelphia Zoo

Recommended Litterature:

Random literature As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
Links

Relevant links

Internal relevant links

External relevant links (Opens in new window)

Search more on the web for Josephine

(The name Josephine is already submitted into the link, just click on the link for relevant results)


Categories1943 deaths | Washington National Museum of Natural History Taxidermy | Elephants from Philadelphia Zoo | United States | African forest elephants




About this documentWebsite online since 1995. This document was created: . Latest update: 2025-03-03 05:02:02 included characters with valid HTML5 Valid CSS



Disclaimer & Privacy
Elephant Consultant Dan Koehl
Sweden: Kårbodavägen 39, S-184 97 Ljusterö
Cambodia: c/o Lindas, Sok San Road, Siem Reap
Thailand: c/o Maetaman Homestay, Chiang Mai
Email: webmaster@elephant.se

Your ip: 18.117.85.183

Visitors to Website
For Live update, click!