African Bush Elephant

Meet Us at the Elephant!

Reigning proudly over the museum’s Rotunda since 1959, our 11-ton, 13-foot-tall African elephant greets millions of visitors year round. Sometimes called the Fénykövi elephant, after the Hungarian game hunter who donated the hide, he’s more often called by his affectionate nickname: Henry.  

In 2015 Henry was carefully cleaned and patched with special hand-colored beeswax. His new platform includes a visitor information desk and info on African elephant ecology, the threat of poaching, and elephants’ place in geologic time. 

Online Resources

• Meet Henry the Elephant in the museum’s virtual tour. 
• Explore educational activities and videos about elephant evolution.  
• Watch a video of museum taxidermists cleaning Henry.
• Read an article dsecribing how we clean our 11-ton elephant.