Staff and students at the University of Reading’s Cole Museum of Zoology marked Norman the Asian elephant’s 175th birthday on Tuesday. His skeleton is now on display and used to teach students and visitors; in the 19th Century, Norman toured the UK with Manders Menagerie.
Nineteenth-century newspapers reported that Norman could jump hurdles and play the piano. He died in 1867, aged 16; museum 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, the skeleton was cleaned and rebuilt, and replica tusks were made. Founded in 1907 to teach zoology, the Cole Museum now holds about 38,000 specimens.
