Hans
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Menagerie du Paris Jardin des Plantes in France

Biography

☨ ♂ Hans
Hans as museum specimen.

Museum locations
Present / last location:	Bourges Museum of Natural History, in France

Date of arrival

1931-07-00	Bourges Museum of Natural History, Bourges, France

Identification


Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Male ♂ 20 years old
Origin
Born:	* 1782 wild
Birth place:	in Sri Lanka unspecified location
Capture:	1784
Imported:	1784 by Dutch East India Company
Freight:	by ship from Ceylon, arriving at the port of Flushing in 1786.
Death
Dead:	†1802-02-17
Death reason:	disease: pneumonia
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Menagerie du Paris Jardin des Plantes, in France

Date of arrival

1798-03-23	Menagerie du Paris Jardin des Plantes from Het Oude Loo menagerie

1786-07-17	Het Oude Loo menagerie from Het kleine Loo menagerie

1784-00-00	Het kleine Loo menagerie from Dutch East India Company

1784-00-00	Dutch East India Company from Port of Colombo

	Port of Colombo from Sri Lanka unspecified location

Record history
History of updates	2009-11-06: previous locations, birth year 2020-10-06: updated locations

Latest document update	2021-09-15 14:07:48
Google map

† Hans is a dead Male ♂ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died 1802-02-17 at Menagerie du Paris Jardin des Plantes, in France, . Official death reason described as pneumonia.

Museum locationThe Museum specimen remains of this animal is within the collection at Bourges Museum of Natural History, in Bourges, France, since 1931-07-00.

Origin

Hans was born wild 1782 at Sri Lanka unspecified location, captured 1784 . and imported 1784 by Dutch East India Company, by ship from Ceylon, arriving at the port of Flushing in 1786.

Comments / pictures

The male elephant Hans is the oldest taxidermized specimen of elephant still in existence in France.

History

Around 1783: Born in Ceylon.
1784: Captured with a female (Parkie) and embarked for Holland
1786: Arrival of the two elephants at the port of Flushing. After a visit to Petit Loo, they are kept at the castle of Het Loo, menagerie of the Stadthouder Guillaume V.
Beginning of 1795: Occupation of Belgium and Holland by French troops. Confiscation of the contents of the Cabinet of Natural History and of the living animals of the Stadthouder menagerie.
June 20, 1796: First attempt to transport elephants from The Hague to Paris. Hans breaks his cage to find Parkie.
12 November 1796:Second attempt to transport the elephants. Hans's cart hangs on the iron gate of the park. Jussieu, in Paris, is in despair, he plans to bring the elephants on foot.
September 25, 1797: Third attempt. One hundred horses and a detachment of artillery are mobilized. Elephant carts are mounted on artillery wheels. Most of the route is done by boat, by river but also by sea (they even weather a storm).
March 23, 1798: Three years after the confiscation, and after six months of travel, Hans and Parkie finally arrive at the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes.
May 29, 1798:Concert offered to the two elephants by sixteen musicians from the Conservatory. On the program: Gluck, Rameau, and trendy arias (Ah ça va, etc).
January 6, 1802: Hans dies of pneumonia.
January-February 1802: Cuvier autopsy and dissects Hans. This will result in various anatomical representations.
January 1802 - end of 1803: Naturalization of the specimen by Dufresne and his team. Use of a wooden mannequin.
July 1931: Arrival in Bourges
Beginning of 1989: Restoration
October 2003: Rediscovery of Hans.
Hans in Menagerie du Paris Jardin des Plantes

Hans in Menagerie du Paris Jardin des Plantes

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). Hans, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Menagerie du Paris Jardin des Plantes in France. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 22 April 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=3523. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

Peter Stolk, Netherlands
Elephants and Egotists by Patricia Sumerling
Jonas Livet, France
http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/149/1498297155.pdf
http://www.museum-bourges.net/museum-hans-l-%C3%A9l%C3%A9phant-85.html

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