Siam
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Berlin Zoo in Germany

Siam was born wild 1921.

Enteritis means inflammation of the intestines.

Siam, together with 9o other animals (out of 3,715) survived the second world war, and the bombings of Berlin Zoo.

Interestingly, most World War II "trivia" sites inaccurately repeat the myth that "The first Allied bombs to fall on Berlin killed the zoo's only elephant." The truth is that the Berlin zoo never had only one elephant, and the bombs that fell on the city in 1944 killed seven of the zoo's elephants, leaving Siam the sole surviving pachyderm. Somehow, this has been distorted over time and the myth has been turned into "amusing" trivia for war buffs.
Curtis Christopher Comer

Curtis Christopher Comer has written a book called "The Elephant Gate: the Story of Siam, the Last Elephant in Berlin"


Article about Siam and the other animals that survived the war in October 15, 1945 article in Life magazine, entitled "Berlin's Last Elephant," (page 42).

References

Sources used for this article is among others:

• Documentation 2002 - Elephants in European Zoos and Safari Parks published by European Elephant Group: Haufellner, Schilfarth, Schweiger

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