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Monday, June 09, 2008

Many of the elephants in zoos throughout Europe are direct descendants of the war elephants Hannibal marched across the Alps in the Second Punic War.


See also:
- Bioparco Zoo of Rome
- Hannibal Barca

keywords: history, famous people, nature, culture and places, animals, war, hannibal barca, carthage, rome, italy, pachyderm, battle of zama, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day

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4 Comments

  • Wrong again, I'm afraid. Most of Hannibal's elephants (which numbered in the 30's) died in the crossing of the Alps. The remaining few probably died during the Italian winter. No surviving elephants = no legacy, including no descendants in zoos. This is not just wrong, but irresponsibly so. People might actually be believing these "facts".

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at May 28, 2007 11:44 PM  

  • The remaining few "probably" died. Key word "probably." Apparently, anonymous, you don't know wtf you are talking about.

    By Anonymous rickman, at September 06, 2007 7:13 AM  

  • Yes, key word "probably", as in, it's far more likely that they died than that they didn't. I don't see any evidence to the contrary in your reply, so if there's one of us who doesn't know what he's talking about, it isn't me.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at September 06, 2007 6:08 PM  

  • I'm pretty sure those elephants are dead now. But perhaps, the elephants had left a bloodline before their trek through the alps.

    By Anonymous Lanny, at December 14, 2007 12:46 AM  

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