Animal Statues:

January 9, 2013 2:04 PM

Can you give me examples of public statues of historic, individual animals? (eg. statue of Balto the famous sled-dog, in Central Park in NYC.)

I am looking for examples of public statues of actual historic, individual animals. Animals that have lived famous or impactful lives - and were then enshrined in a public statue to celebrate their life.

There are lots of statues of famous men on horses - but these horses do not count because: 1. they are not identified by name in the statue. 2. they are included in the statue to give prominence to the person, not to celebrate the animal. 3. the artist that made the statue was not sculpting an individual specific horse, but rather the general concept of a horse. If a statue of a man was known to also be a statue of a specific horse that shared its life with that man, then I would include it. But most horses in statues are intentionally nameless.

I only have 4 examples of specific animals being enshrined in a public statues, and they are all dogs:
- Balto in Central Park
- Fala in Washington DC
- Greyfriars Bobby in Edinburgh
- Hachiko in Tokyo

Can you give me any more examples of specific individual animals that have a public statue.

posted by Flood to pets & animals (50 answers total)

Laika, in Moscow.
posted by griphus at 2:07 PM on January 9

A statue of Hannah the Newfoundland was commissioned for the new veterinary teaching hospital at NC State University (scroll down about halfway for a photo). Hannah was not famous, but she obviously had a big impact on her family. I'm not sure if this would qualify.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:08 PM on January 9

Winnie (or Winnipeg) the Bear in Winnipeg, Manitoba (cast with her owner, Lieutenant Harry Colebourn).
posted by mayurasana at 2:10 PM on January 9

Testudo the Terrapin in College Park, MD.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 2:10 PM on January 9

Ahh, you said individual, sorry.
posted by mayurasana at 2:12 PM on January 9

The Brown Dog in Battersea. (Warning -- unanaesthetized vivisection described therein. Read once, seared in my mind forever. Absolutely nightmarish stuff.)
posted by divined by radio at 2:12 PM on January 9

Ah Meng, the orangutan who was at the Singapore Zoo for a long time. According to Wikipedia there's a bronze statue of her there.
posted by mark7570 at 2:13 PM on January 9

At the State Library of NSW, behind the statue of Matthew Flinders (a 19thC explorer and cartographer), there is a statue of his cat, Trim.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 2:14 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

The Wikipedia category animal monuments contains several examples which fit the bill.
posted by XMLicious at 2:14 PM on January 9

Hodge the cat.
posted by lalex at 2:15 PM on January 9 [2 favorites]

Copenhagen, the horse.
posted by Jehan at 2:15 PM on January 9

Annie the Railroad Dog in Fort Collins, CO.
posted by Perthuz at 2:17 PM on January 9

mbd1mbd1: Testudo the Terrapin in College Park, MD.

That reminds me. There is a plaster statue of PT Barnum's famous elephant Jumbo on the Tufts University campus (and the Wikipedia article shows another statue of the pachyderm in Ontario).
posted by Rock Steady at 2:18 PM on January 9

In fact, US college campuses are probably full of these statues. I'd be shocked if Georgia doesn't have an Uga statue and Texas a Bevo one, for example.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:19 PM on January 9

FDR's dog Fala joins him at the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC.
posted by jabes at 2:23 PM on January 9

Oh shoot you already knew about Fala, sorry.
posted by jabes at 2:25 PM on January 9

Looky! London's Cat Statues.

Hodge is there, and Dick Whittington's cat, and Dr. Salter's cat, and....
posted by likeso at 2:26 PM on January 9

If you'll take Depression-era/middle-of-nowhere amusements, Jim, The Wonder Dog. He's got a whole garden.
posted by cobaltnine at 2:31 PM on January 9

Capitoline Wolf?
posted by humboldt32 at 2:32 PM on January 9

Hodge the cat is my favorite.
posted by Kitteh at 2:32 PM on January 9

Do fake stories count? There is a statue of a hippo on the GWU campus in DC that has absolutely nothing to do with the campus whatsoever. There is a "legend" on a plaque next to it stating that it is in honor of the a hippo that once roamed the Potomac, but if I recall correctly it's only there because the university president purchased it on a drunk whim.
posted by troika at 2:37 PM on January 9

Wiarton Willie
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:42 PM on January 9

I know you said no horses, but this is a statue of a specific, famous and historically important horse: Traveller. Traveller was General Lee's horse during the Civil War and the subject of a Richard Adams novel.
posted by workerant at 2:43 PM on January 9 [2 favorites]

Seabiscuit! And many other famous racers here on a dedicated site.
posted by likeso at 2:54 PM on January 9

Seaman, the Newfoundland dog that traveled with Merriwether Lewis (of Lewis & Clark fame) has a couple statues in Oregon.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 3:07 PM on January 9

Wow. These are all great.
Thank you. Please keep them coming.
posted by Flood at 3:12 PM on January 9

I'd be shocked if Georgia doesn't have an Uga statue

More than one, I think.

Ruswarp the dog at Garsdale station in Cumbria.

Since racehorses count, Red Rum has two statues: a full-size one at Aintree and a smaller one in Southport.
posted by holgate at 3:33 PM on January 9

Toby, James Clerk Maxwell's dog sits with him in George Street, Edinburgh.
posted by Flitcraft at 3:35 PM on January 9

Here's a list of dog statues you might not have seen.
posted by southern_sky at 3:45 PM on January 9

Phar Lap has a statue. A NZ/Australian (depending on who you ask) race horse.

Matthew Flinders cat Trim is rather popular and there are a few statues of him around. Here's another one of him. To quote the explorer himself on the matter of Trim.

“The best and most illustrious of his race the most affectionate of friends, faithful of servants and best of creatures. He made the tour of the globe and a voyage to Australia, which he circumnavigated, and was ever the delight and pleasure of his fellow voyagers”
posted by wwax at 3:46 PM on January 9

This... probably does not count as an animal with a famous or impactful life, but there is a sculpture of Toff the Cat at the Carleton College library in Northfield, MN.
posted by Vibrissa at 4:03 PM on January 9

There are about a million of individual race horses. A dozen Thoroughbreds on this page (including only two of Secretariat)... Plus tons more, King Tom, Ouija Board at Knowsley Hall, etc., etc. Almost every race track has at least one (of a specific horse), and plenty of large farms have one, too.

The American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum has several outside (Rugged Lark, Refrigerator, and Dash for Cash that I know of) and I think at least one more named horse statue inside.

There's a statue of Justin Morgan/Figure at the University of Vermont.

Speaking of animals that Marguerite Henry wrote about... There's a statue of Brighty the burro in the Grand Canyon which is apparently a large tourist attraction, and of course one of Misty in Chincoteague (not to mention that Misty and Stormy were both stuffed after they died and are on display, if that counts...ugh).

Big Ben the show jumper...

A casual search for "famous horse statue", or "[name of famous horse] statue", or "[horse breed] statue" turns up even more.
posted by anaelith at 4:33 PM on January 9

Be still my heart, Secretariat . Other racehorse statues abound, but Big Red is KING.
posted by keasby at 5:19 PM on January 9

If fictional animals count, there's a Make Way For Ducklings statue in Boston.

Berkeley has a number of statues of bears on the campus, but they're of unnamed bears.
posted by hoyland at 5:23 PM on January 9

Another Seaman statue in Jefferson City, MO, though he is depicted along with other Lewis & Clark expedition members.
posted by thewestinggame at 5:26 PM on January 9

Churchill Downs has two statues of previous Kentucky Derby winners:
- Barbaro, the 2006 winner who later broke his leg in the Preakness after a false start and had to be euthanized early the next year. (Picture of Barbaro's statue here - notable for being the only horse racing statue in which none of the horse's legs are touching the ground.)
- Aristides, the winner of the first Kentucky Derby. (Picture of Aristides's statue here - it's the 4th picture of the slideshow.)

Barbaro's statue does portray the jockey as well as the horse, but in this case it's "man on a famous horse," not the other way 'round.
posted by pecanpies at 5:49 PM on January 9

Locally historic, but Monty the dog was a beloved figure trotting around Stone's Corner in Brisbane, Australia, for a decade at least. When he passed the local chamber of commerce erected a statue in commemoration.

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra has a statue of Simpson and his donkey, who is believed to have been called Duffy. Simpson's donkey is a much mytholigised part of Australia's involvement in the Battle of Gallipoli in WWI.
posted by goo at 5:52 PM on January 9

Malchik, a statue commemorating a stray dog that was stabbed to death by a "disturbed fashion model."

See also: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121123197068805001.html
posted by ablazingsaddle at 6:11 PM on January 9

The Waymarking "Animal Memorials" category is a good resource (not all are statutes). Some more unusual candidates:
Emily the escapee cow
Bob the Turkey
Romeo the Rogue Elephant
Olga the Walrus
Sitarra, one of Sigfried and Roy's white tigers
posted by drlith at 7:30 PM on January 9

There are two matching bronze statues of the "World War II Canine Hero" Bamse (a St. Bernard): one in Montrose, Scotland and one in Honningsvåg, Norway.
posted by argonauta at 7:41 PM on January 9

Seaman, the dog who journeyed with Louis and Clark, returning to the shores of St Louis.
"Seaman was bought for $20 in Pittsburgh. Throughout the two year journey, Seaman survived a beaver attach (for which Lewis and Clark performed emergency surgery), vicious mosquitoes, and being almost eaten by the Corps of Discovery. In the end, he was misnomered for a decade and had a tributary named for him though it was later renamed. "
posted by scrambles at 8:21 PM on January 9

Further, on the Trim statue (a great one), if you look closely at the nearby statue of Matthew Flinders there are a series of brass cat footprints leading away from it ... and over to where you find Trim. I love that pair of statues!
posted by barnacles at 8:48 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

I know of two gorilla statues.

Chicago has a bust of Bushman, Bushman’s Head by C. J. Albrechtand (which is not currently on display according to this pdf), and London a sculpture of Guy by William Timym.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 9:46 PM on January 9

Able Seaman Just Nuisance (the only dog ever to hold rank in the Royal Navy)
Jock of the Bushveld
posted by kreestar at 11:50 PM on January 9

It might be self-serving to mention my own blog (apologies), but there's an oddball, off-the-beaten-path park in southwest South Korea that has statues to several heroic dogs, including a folktale of a Korean dog that saved his owner's life during a fire. It's at http://www.travelwireasia.com/2012/06/destination-osu-faithful-dog-monument-and-park-osu-myeon-jeollabuk-do/. Fun place, though foreigners seem to know about it...
posted by chrisinseoul at 8:47 AM on January 10

There's this faithful dog Dżok (Jock) statue in Kraków and a statue of homeless mutt Werniks in Kazimierz Dolny. I was also pretty sure this is a statue of a certain bull (I've seen it this year) but I can't confirm it.
And I also found this page (click on the [ABCD] etc. links).
posted by hat_eater at 9:54 AM on January 10

Thank you all.
These are all great.

There are so many more than ever thought.
posted by Flood at 10:18 AM on January 10

This may not count, but Li'l Sebastian had a memorial statute made on Parks & Rec.
posted by pappy at 12:23 PM on January 10

There's a bronze statue of Hachiko outside of Shibuya Station in Tokyo. Hachiko was a Akita that's famous for waiting outside of the station to greet his owner for many years even after his owner's death. His loyalty was widely celebrated.
posted by Carius at 12:25 PM on January 10

Red Dog

(There's a 2011 Australian film by that name which was based on a book which was, I understand, rather loosely based on the real story. The film is well worth seeing.)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:58 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]