Gold Dust
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington in United States

Biography

☨ ♂ Gold Dust
Gold Dust and Dunk with head keeper W. H. Blackburne at the National Zoological Park, 1898
Museum locations
Present / last location:	Washington National Museum of Natural History, in United States

Date of arrival

1898-11-04	Washington National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, United States

Identification

Museum accession number	NMNH USNM 85485 / A0049639
SSP nr	478

Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Male ♂ 18 years old
Characteristics:	Skin, skull, skeleton, section of trunk in fluid
Origin
Born:	* 1880 wild
Birth place:
Death
Dead:	†1898-11-04
Death reason:	unknown: collapsed during a walk in the zoo. he could not rise again, and died during the night. Autopsy showed catarrhal inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington, in United States

Date of arrival

1891-04-30	Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington from Adam Forepaugh Circus

1890-00-00	Adam Forepaugh Circus from Frank A. Robbins Circus

1886-00-00	Frank A. Robbins Circus from Adam Forepaugh Circus

Record history
History of updates	2009-11-14: picture 2021-07-28: Museum details

Latest document update	2021-07-28 12:43:36
Google map

† Gold Dust is a dead Male ♂ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died 1898-11-04 at Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington, in United States, . Official death reason described as collapsed during a walk in the zoo. he could not rise again, and died during the night. Autopsy showed catarrhal inflammation of the stomach and intestines..

Museum locationThe Museum specimen remains of this animal is within the collection at Washington National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, DC, United States, since 1898-11-04.

Origin

Gold Dust was born wild 1880.

Comments / pictures

1891 - Donated to the National Zoo with Duncan

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2026). Gold Dust, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington in United States. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 19 February 2026 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=2562. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Bob Cline, Cheraw, South Carolina, United States. Autor of the book Americas elephants
Roth, V. Sep 1984 ["Sep 1984"]. How Elephants Grow: Heterochrony and the Calibration of Developmental Stages in Some Living and Fossil Species. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 4 (1)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/30a226f2a-4ade-4c2e-8af9-28cf6e23e375
Wild Animals in and out of the Zoo by William M. Mann

Litterature about Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington

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Links

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