† Chunee is a dead Male ♂ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died 1826-03-01 at Exeter Exchange menagerie, in United Kingdom, . Official death reason described as Chunee was hit by 152 musket balls, but refused to die. Chunee was finished off by a keeper with a harpoon or sword.
Chunee was born wild at West Bengal Unspecified location. and imported 1811-07-00 by English East India Company, by ship "East Indiaman", Astell, from Bengal,
Chunee became dangerously violent towards the end of his life, attributed to an "annual paroxysm" (perhaps his musth) aggravated by a rotten tusk which gave him toothache. On 26 February 1826, while on his usual Sunday walk along the Strand, Chunee ran amok, killing one of his keepers. He became increasingly enraged and difficult to handle over the following days, and it was decided that he was too dangerous to keep. The following Wednesday, 1 March, his keeper tried to feed him poison, but Chunee refused to eat it. Soldiers were summoned from Somerset House to shoot Chunee with their muskets. Kneeling down to the command of his trusted keeper, Chunee was hit by 152 musket balls, but refused to die. Chunee was finished off by a keeper with a harpoon or sword. The floor of his cage was deeply covered with his blood, and it was said that the sound of the elephant in agony was more alarming than the reports of the soldier's guns.
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