Tusko is a popular name given to

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

s in captivity. Several notable elephants have been given this

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

Etymology

The name Tusko is derived from the

tusks Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine teeth, as with pigs and walruses, or, in the case of elephants, elongated incisors. Tusks share co ...

from the elephant.

Notable elephants

The Meanest Elephant

Formerly known as "Ned", this Tusko was a giant circus

captured at age 6 in Siam (now

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

). He stood just five feet high when he was unloaded from a sailing ship at

New York harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

in 1898. Originally named Ned, he was part of several circuses in the 1900s, including the Great Syndicate Shows, the Great Eastern Shows, and the M.L. Clark & Sons Combined Shows. In 1921, he was purchased by the

Al G. Barnes Circus Al G. Barnes Circus was an American circus run by Alpheus George Barnes Stonehouse that operated from 1898 to 1938. History Stonehouse started his show in 1895 with a pony, a phonograph, and a stereopticon. By 1929, the "Al G. Barnes Wild Anima ...

and became its main attraction. He was renamed Tusko. The

which presumably earned him his name were about seven feet long (213 centimeters) at this time. By 1922, he was touted as "The Meanest Elephant" as well as "the largest elephant ever in captivity", though at 10-feet-2-inches tall (3.1 meters), he was seven inches shorter than

Jumbo Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and t ...

. Nonetheless, Tusko was a ton heavier than Jumbo and the largest elephant in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

since Jumbo. On May 14, 1922, Tusko got loose in

Sedro-Woolley, Washington Sedro-Woolley is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Mount Vernon– Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area and had a population of 12,421 at the 2020 census. The city is home to North Cascade ...

, and caused $20,000 in damage. Tusko elephant Al G Barnes

John Ringling John Nicholas Ringling (May 31, 1866 – December 2, 1936) was an American entrepreneur who is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Bros World's Greatest Shows ...

bought the circus and sold Tusko to Al Painter, who worked for the

Lotus Isle Lotus Isle Amusement Park was an amusement park that operated from 1930 to 1932 on Tomahawk Island in Portland, Oregon. Known as the "Wonderland of the Pacific Northwest", Lotus Isle was located just east of the more successful Jantzen Beach amus ...

amusement park in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, where he performed as "Tusko the Magnificent". The March 23, 1931, issue of ''The Oregonian Newspaper'' reported that an airplane crash at Lotus Isle spooked the animal, causing Tusko to go on a rampage. Painter sold the elephant to T. H. Eslick, one of Lotus Isle's developers. He spent some time in an exhibition road show, accompanied by his keeper and lifelong devotee, young George "Slim" Lewis. Eslick later abandoned him at the 1931 Oregon State Fair. By this time, his tusks had been reduced to nubbins. Tusko changed hands repeatedly, until finally

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Mayor John F. Dore, taking pity on his poor condition, had him confiscated from his latest owner on October 8, 1932. Tusko ended his days in the Seattle Zoo, dying of a

blood clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of c ...

on June 10, 1933.

The elephant on LSD

"Tusko" was the name of a male

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of four extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild po ...

at the

Oklahoma City Zoo The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden is a zoo and botanical garden located in Oklahoma City's Adventure District in northeast Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The zoo covers and is home to more than 1,900 animals. It is open every day except Than ...

. On August 3, 1962, researchers from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

injected him with 297 mg of

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

(lysergic acid diethylamide), which is nearly three thousand times the human recreational dose. Within five minutes he collapsed to the ground and one hour and forty minutes later he died. It is believed that the LSD was the cause of his death, although some speculate that the drugs the researchers used in an attempt to revive him may have contributed to his death.Tusko's last trip
The Guardian (26 February 2004). Retrieved on 2021-06-13.

Portland, Oregon Zoo

References