Pope Leo X was gifted a rare, majestic white elephant named Hanno by the King of Portugal in 1514, and the pontiff immediately became obsessed with his massive new pet.

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Pope Leo X was gifted a rare, majestic white elephant named Hanno by the King of Portugal in 1514, and the pontiff immediately became obsessed with his massive new pet. Hanno lived an incredibly luxurious life in the Vatican gardens, performing tricks for the public and marching in elaborate parades while covered in silver and gold garments. Unfortunately, the elephant fell ill with constipation after a few years, and the Pope's genius medical team decided the best cure was to administer an enema completely laced with gold. Unsurprisingly, shooting heavy precious metals into the digestive tract of a sick animal was extremely fatal, and Hanno died shortly after the treatment. The Pope was so devastated that he penned a highly emotional tribute poem, completely ignoring the fact that his own extravagant, blinged-out veterinary care was the exact thing that murdered his beloved giant companion