View source for Dunk (elephant)

[[Image:Dunk elephant.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Dunk with a keeper.]]
{{moresources|date=December 2024}}
'''Dunk''' (c. 1861 – March 30, 1917),<ref>"Dunk, Zoo Elephant, Hurt, Is Shot, And Children Mourn Death of Pet", ''Washington Post'', March 31, 1917.</ref> a tuskless, male [[Asian elephant]] (known as a "[[makhna]]") possibly from [[Ceylon]] (now Sri Lanka), was the first elephant to reside at the [[National Zoological Park (United States)|National Zoo in Washington, D.C.]] He was given to the National Zoo on April 30, 1891 by [[James E. Cooper]], owner and manager of the [[Adam Forepaugh]] [[Circus]].

When Dunk first arrived at the National Zoo, he had no shelter and was tied to a tree with his companion [[Gold Dust (elephant)|Gold Dust]] to prevent him from wandering. Once a day, both elephants were walked to [[Rock Creek (Potomac River)|Rock Creek]] to swim. A temporary structure, known as the Octagonal House, was eventually built for the elephants. Construction on a permanent, brick elephant house, designed by [[Hornblower & Marshall]], began in September 1902 and was completed in January 1903.

==Death and legacy==
Dunk was ill throughout the winter of 1917. On March 30, 1917, after Dunk broke his shoulder in a fall, keeper William Blackburne [[euthanasia|euthanized]] him by shooting. Despite a famous ill-temper, Dunk was popular with the children of Washington, D.C. To commemorate his memory, they raised money for a plaque, which remains in the elephant house at the National Zoo today.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

==See also==
* [[List of individual elephants]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070610093925/http://sirismm.si.edu/siahistory/imagedb/2003-19538.jpg Smithsonian online catalog image of Gold Dust (left) and Dunk (right) taking a walk together]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070610051043/http://sirismm.si.edu/siahistory/imagedb/mah-15530.jpg Smithsonian online catalog image of Dunk's elephant house]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070610093831/http://sirismm.si.edu/siahistory/imagedb/2002-10618.jpg Another Smithsonian online catalog image of Dunk's elephant house]

{{National Zoological Park (United States)}}

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[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:1917 animal deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Individual elephants in the United States]]
[[Category:Individual elephants in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Individual Asian elephants]]