Museum marks 175th birthday of performing elephant

The 175th birthday of a performing elephant has been marked at the museum where its skeleton is on display.

Norman, an Asian elephant, toured the UK with Manders Menagerie in the 19th Century, with newspapers reporting he could perform tricks like jumping hurdles and playing the piano.

His bones are now the centrepiece of the Cole Museum of Zoology on the University of Reading's Whiteknights campus, where they are used to educate both students and visitors.

Staff and students gathered on Tuesday for the milestone anniversary, with Prof Amanda Callaghan, curator of the museum, saying they "couldn't let his 175th birthday pass without a celebration".

"Norman has had an extraordinary life, and an even more extraordinary afterlife," she said.

"He entertained crowds up and down the country in the 1800s, and more than 150 years later he is still teaching our zoology students and delighting visitors of all ages."

Norman died in 1867, aged 16, and the museum's founder, Prof Francis Joseph Cole, bought his skeleton from Liverpool Museum in 1921 for £30, about £1,900 in today's money.

Before the museum moved to its current building in 2020, his skeleton was cleaned and rebuilt, and replica tusks were made.

The Cole Museum was founded in 1907 to teach zoology at what was then University College Reading, and now holds about 38,000 specimens.

Many were collected by former students on their travels, while others were gifted by governments and museums around the world, including a platypus and an echidna from the Australian government.

Alongside Norman, visitors can see the skeletons of a camel and a false killer whale.