John King

From the list of elephant persons Family: King

John King
John King
Clodeup from John Kings grave at Elmwood Cemetery
Personal details
Country United States
Locations
Title menagerie superintendent -1880
Location at John Robinson Circus in United States
John King
John Kings grave at Elmwood Cemetery
Biography details

John King , circus animal trainer in United States

Born ? dead 1880-09-29 .

Affiliation with 1 elephants

1: Chief (fatal attack)

Casualties

1 casualties
  1. 1880-09-28: animal trainer John King fatal attack by Chief. While the circus was in Charlotte for performances, Chief rammed King into his railcar cage, crushing him. King was described as crushed beyond recognition “to jelly”. John King † John King Died 1880-09-29

1880-09-28: King was killed on September 27,1880 by the elephant Chief. The elephant apparently had a grudge against the King who was a favorite of the female elephant Mary? King was described as crushed beyond recognition “to jelly”. King died the next morning.


The elephant, known as Chief, had a reputation for being unruly. His murderous behavior was blamed on surging testosterone from Musth, a breeding cycle that male elephants go through periodically.

While the circus was in Charlotte for performances, Chief rammed King into his railcar cage, crushing him—the impact reportedly broke every bone in his body. Chief then started to rampage, but other circus workers managed to capture him and tie him to his mate, a larger female elephant named Mary, to get him back under control.




King’s hearse was followed to Elmwood Cemetery by Mary and another of the circus’ elephants who were said to have walked in time to the circus band’s music. His gravestone, an obelisk monument decorated with a delicately carved elephant, was purchased by the circus.






Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). animal trainer John King in United States. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 26 March 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/person.php?id=3386. (archived at the Wayback machine)

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Selected publications

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Categories animal trainer | circus | John Robinson Circus | King family | Born ? | Dead 1880 | People from United States


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