Photograph of two small elephants, one standing and one lying down, with keepers - one English and one Indian. Scaffolding in background. Part of an Indian man at far right edge of photograph.

During his tour of India in 1875-6, the Prince of Wales was given a number of animals, including these two young elephants. One of the elephants was mentioned in Dr. Fayrer's account of the tour: 'a female, aged seven, presented by Digbijeh Singh, at Lucknow' (p.136). He subsequently wrote: 'each elephant has a mahout, so that the best provision is made for their care!' (p.137).

It was quite usual for animals to be given to members of the Royal Family during foreign tours. The more exotic species, if they survived the journey home, were generally presented to the London Zoo but the smaller creatures, particularly dogs or birds, were often given a comfortable home with other household pets.