Magyar News, 2004. szeptember-2005. augusztus (15. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2005-03-01 / 7. szám
A Hungarian elephant??? ___________________________b«j Erika Popp fober_____________________ Fénykövi's bull elephant in the Rotunda of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institute No, we're not talking about pink elephants, but the largest mounted animal in the world, the African Bull Elephant standing in the Rotunda of the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Yes, it too has a Hungarian connection! Standing 13'2" at the shoulder, "only a few inches short of giant prehistoric mammoths", and 33'2" from trunk to tail tip, it has been an attraction at the Museum since 1959. Big-game hunter Jósé (József) Fénykövi had seen some enormous elephant tracks -measuring three feet long! - on a safari in Portuguese Angola, West Africa, in 1954. Not equipped to tackle an animal of such presumably huge size, he planned a return trip to this remote area the following year. Little is known of Fénykövi's life, though an unconfirmed report states that he had been a prisoner in Siberia. What is known is that Fénykövi, an engineer, left Hungary at the end of the first World War, and settled in Madrid, Spain. There, he became a successful entrepreneur, involved in construction. Among other things, he built the American embassy in Madrid. When that was finished, he decided to return to his hunting lodge in Angola, where he had already undertaken several safaris. When the 65-year old Fénykövi returned in 1955, he and his hunting party once again came across the enormous tracks. They followed them, only to find that another large elephant had joined their quarry . Eventually, after a long, hot day's trek, they managed to get close enough to bring down the behemoth. When Fénykövi measured the feet of the fallen elephant, he was greatly puzzled, as they measured only two feet in length. But the puzzle was solved when they found a slug in its leg, a slug that came from a flintlock muzzle-loading gun of the type used at least 80 years previously. That slug made the elephant cross its feet, so that one foot would step in the spoor of the other, making the track seem to be three feet long. That slug also helped to pinpoint the probable age of the elephant. As a Smithsonian expert explained, hunters at that time were interested only in the ivory, and tusks do not become valuable until an elephant reaches 20 years of age. Thus it was estimated that Fénykövi's African Bush elephant was about 100 years old. Fénykövi tracked down and shot the elephant in the Cuando River region of southeastern Angola on November 13, 1955. Skinning the beast, loading and transporting it to a port took much time and even more effort, as they had to cross some 600 miles of wilderness, a number of formidable rivers, and cope with the terrific heat and little drinking water. The hide alone weighed two tons, so that not even twenty-three natives were able to Lift it. (The whole elephant weighed eight tons.) The hide, tusks and most of the bones were temporarily stored in Fénykövi's Madrid warehouse. Offended by the British Museum's apparent ingratitude for his earlier gifts of trophies, he finally decided to donate his elephant to the Smithsonian, because they had the best taxidermists in the world. When it arrived in Washington, the work of restoration could begin. The hide was stiff as a board, and three inches thick in some places. Two taxidermists employed by the National Museum of Natural History spent 16 months restoring the elephant and getting it ready for exhibition. Their work was an even greater achievement than Fénykövi's bagging the huge animal. Framework had to be constructed, of wood, plaster and sisal fiber, and 11,000 pounds of water clay, which had to be kept moist by means of a steam line inserted into the plastic enclosed framework. The hide was placed on this. Taxidermists had to work in this humid environment for months, climbing inside the elephant's belly to finish the construction. Following much study of living elephants, the restorers decided to give it a pose that would indicate a somewhat suspicious attitude. The restored elephant was even the centerpiece at one of President Reagan's inaugural balls. It stood on a raised oval platform (see photo) in the place of honor in the center rotunda of the National Museum of Natural History until 1999. By then, cracks had developed in the hide, and it was time for renovation. Today, it is presented in a diorama, showing its natural ecological habitat, with authentic grasses, real and model insects, and even realistic dung piles. "Jósé" Fénykövi authored a two-volume work, in Spanish, which translated would be "Angola in the Sight of a Rifle and in a Camera's Viewfinder." The Smithsonian's elephant is not the largest elephant ever taken. In 1974, an elephant measuring six inches more at the shoulder was shot within 3 miles of where Fénykövi had bagged his elephant. But the “Hungarian” elephant is the largest mounted animal in the world. I am indebted to Ms. Jill Johnson, who was the exhibit developer for the renovation of the African elephant exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute, for the copious material she put at my disposal, from which this article was drawn. E.P.F Page 7
