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{{Short description|Indian animal trainer and circus performer (1902-1973)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Damoo Dhotre
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Damodar Gangaram Dhotre
| birth_date = 31 August 1902
| birth_place = [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra]], India
| death_date = 23 January 1973 (aged 70)
| death_place = [[Shukrawar Peth, Pune|Shukrawar Peth]], [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra]], India
| resting_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = {{hlist|Animal trainer}}
| years_active =
| employer = Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (1940-1949)
| known_for = [[Animal training]]
| notable_works =
| awards = [[Circus Hall of Fame]] (1973)
| father =
| relatives =
| spouse =
}}
'''Damoo Dhotre''' (31 August 1902{{snd}}23 January 1973) was an [[Indian people|Indian]] animal trainer and circus performer.

==Early life==
Damodar Gangaram Dhotre was born on 31 August 1902, in [[Pune]], [[Bombay Province]] (now [[Maharashtra]]), [[Colonial India]].<ref name="BnF">{{cite web|url=https://expositions.bnf.fr/cnac/grand/cir_2878.htm|title=Damoo Dhotre sa panthère Sonia|website=expositions.bnf.fr|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref>

==Circus life==
Damoo Dhotre began visiting his maternal uncle Shellar's [[circus]] as a boy, and his uncle, recognizing his interest, took him under his wing.<ref name="Pandey, V. (1965)">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-45950132|title=The Indian animal trainer who became a circus legend|author=Vikas Pandey|date=23 October 2018|website=bbc.com|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> In 1912, he left school and traveled with his uncle for four years.<ref name="Pandey, V. (1965)"/> He was nine when he began his own training, doing acrobatic work and bicycle training.<ref name="Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. (1961)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NodYAAAAYAAJ&q=Damoo+Dhotre|title=Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books - Volume 15|date=1961|publisher=University of Chicago Press|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> He practiced acrobatics and cycling tricks on two wheels, high wheel, and unicycle under Savlaram Mali, the circus's star acrobat, who instructed and drilled him.<ref name="Internet Archive"/> Later, he set a record as a trick cyclist by jumping a 33-foot gap on a bicycle.<ref name="The Virginian-Pilot. (1946)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/851692550/?match=1&terms=Damoo%20Dhotre|title=Wild Animal Act In Sparks Circus Here April 22-23|date=April 14, 1946|newspaper=The Virginian-Pilot|access-date=2025-09-11}}</ref>

Right from the beginning, Damoo was more drawn to wild animals than to acrobatics.<ref name="Bulletin from Virginia Kirkus' Service. (1961)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7imzAqNO50C&q=Damoo+Dhotre|title=Bulletin from Virginia Kirkus' Service - Volume 29, Issues 1-16|date=1961|author= Kirkus Service|publisher=|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> Dhotre, at age thirteen, sought out Dhondiram Chavan, the lead wild animal trainer of Shellar's Royal Circus, and started training to handle the animals himself.<ref name="Champad, S. (2013)">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTwNAgAAQBAJ&dq=damodar+gangaram+dhotre&pg=PA122|title=An Album of Indian Big Tops: (History of Indian Circus)|date=2013|author=Kirkus Service|publisher=Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency (SBPRA)|isbn=978-1-62212-766-5 |access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> Damoo's mother was horrified at the idea of him entering a wild animal cage.<ref name="Pandey, V. (1965)"/> With his uncle's circus, he learned professional approaches to [[animal training]].<ref name="NY Times. (1961)">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/05/14/archives/leopards-tigers-and-a-ram-wild-animal-man-by-damoo-dhotre-as-told.html|title=Leopards, Tigers and a Ram; WILD ANIMAL MAN. By Damoo Dhotre as told to Richard Taplinger. 154 pp. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. $3.50|author=Jane Cobb|date=14 May 1961|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> The first trick he performed was riding a tiger around the ring.<ref name="Champad, S. (2013)"/> By the age of seventeen, he was "breaking" lions and tigers to perform.<ref name="Commercial. (1946)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1108961103/?match=1&terms=Damoo%20Dhotre|title=Circus Wild-Animal Man Hails Via Europe|date=July 9, 1946|newspaper=Commercial|access-date=2025-09-11}}</ref>

Feeling homesick after four years, he returned to Pune.<ref name="Pandey, V. (1965)"/>

With circuses like Great Olympia, Great Asiatic, Raymer's, Carson's American, and Franz Isako's Russian Circus, Damoo toured the [[Orient]], including India, Burma, Ceylon, Indochina, Thailand, China, and the Malay States.<ref name="The Virginian-Pilot. (1946)"/>

When the French circus artist [[Alfred Court]] visited India in 1939 for [[black leopard]]s, Damoo Dhotre, their owner, demanded to go with them.<ref name="Collier's Once a Week. (1940)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SEfAQAAMAAJ&q=Damoo+Dhotre|title=Collier's Once a Week - Volume 106|date=1940|publisher=P. F. Collier|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> From [[Calcutta]], Dhotre journeyed to [[Paris]] to join Alfred Court as a trainer.<ref name="International Pedigree Book of Snow Leopards, Panthera Uncia. (1979)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=slHzX0tDHFwC&q=Damoo%20Dhotre|title=International Pedigree Book of Snow Leopards, Panthera Uncia - Volume 4|date=1979|author=|publisher=Helsinki Zoo|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> He gained extensive knowledge of animals as a pupil of Court.<ref name="O'Brien, E. (1959)">{{cite web|url=http://google.ca/books/edition/Circus/M3c4AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Damoo%20Dhotre|title=Circus: Cinders to Sawdust|date=1959|author=|publisher=Naylor Company|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> His work at the French circus provided enough income to support his wife and three sons back in India.<ref name="Homegrown. (2022)">{{cite web|url=https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-explore/indias-forgotten-circus-legend-the-life-work-of-damoo-dhotre|title=Indian Circus Ring Master Damoo Dhotre Was A Circus Legend|date=15 June 2022|website=homegrown.co.in|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref>

With circuses disrupted amid [[World War II]], the French circus company soon relocated to the United States.<ref name="Homegrown. (2022)"/> They were signed by [[John Ringling North]], who traveled to Europe to recruit fresh acts before the supply was cut off.<ref name="Internet Archive 2">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/circuskingsourri00innort/circuskingsourri00innort_djvu.txt|title=Circus kings : our Ringling family story|author=Henry Ringling North|website=archive.org|date=1960|access-date=2025-07-14}}</ref>

For the 1940 season, Damoo Dhotre joined the [[Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus]] as one of the assistants of Alfred Court.<ref name="OCLC">{{cite web|url=https://cdm17426.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17426coll5/id/11668/rec/1|title=Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Combined ... - CONTENTdm|website=cdm17426.contentdm.oclc.org|access-date=2025-07-14}}</ref> Court's center ring [[big cat]] act, worked by Dhotre, debuted in the early 1940s and became a regular feature on the 1942 Ringling tour.<ref name="Billboard. (1942)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JwwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Damoo+Dhotre&pg=PT41|title=Billboard - Vol. 54, No. 11|date=14 March 1942|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> He worked a cage filled with leopards, pumas, jaguars, panthers, and cheetahs, while the other two rings featured animals from polar bears to Great Danes.<ref name="Times, the Picture Paper. (1940)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/813324323/?match=1&terms=Damoo%20Dhotre|title=Circus, After Six Years Again In Eastern Maine|date=August 6, 1940|newspaper=Times, the Picture Paper|access-date=2025-09-11}}</ref> Damoo's mentor, Court, preferred to stay in the background, letting him lead the act.<ref name="Bradna, F., Spence, H. (1952)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggmCAAAAMAAJ&q=Damoo%20Dhotre|title=The Big Top: My Forty Years with the Greatest Show on Earth|date=1952|publisher=Simon and Schuster|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> "Prince" Damoo Dhotre presented himself as a bare-chested [[fakir]] in a turban, baggy purple trousers, and glittering attire.<ref name="Bouissac, P. (2021)">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WsY4EAAAQBAJ&dq=Damoo+Dhotre&pg=PT181|title=The End of the Circus: Evolutionary Semiotics and Cultural Resilience|date=2021|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-350-16651-6 |access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> His leopards, both close to 150 pounds, allowed him to wear them around his neck like [[fur stole]]s.<ref name="Internet Archive 3">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/circuskingsourri00innort/circuskingsourri00innort_djvu.txt|title=Circus Doctor by J.Y. Henderson D.V.M. Chief Veterinarian of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus as told to Richard Taplinger|author=J.Y. Henderson|website=archive.org|date=1951|access-date=2025-07-14}}</ref>

He continued to impress international audiences with his fearlessness and expertise.<ref name="Homegrown. (2022)"/> Unlike other trainers who provoked animals with guns, chairs, and whips, Damoo Dhotre relied on affection and voice cues.<ref name="Hobbies. (1955)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zlooAQAAMAAJ&q=Damoo+Dhotre|title=Hobbies - Volume 60|date=1955|publisher=Lightner Publishing Company|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> He began by calming fear, then taught respect. He stood by their cages for days, speaking and feeding them until they settled. During training, he relied on ropes, rewards, and gentle correction, certain fear alone caused resentment. With a guiding stick, a chew stick, and a whip to give signals, he stayed in command but always warned that no wild animal could be completely tamed.<ref name="Internet Archive 3"/>

From 1942 to 1945, Damoo was enlisted as a [[US Army]] corporal and spent time at [[Camp Sibert]] in Alabama.<ref name="Billboard. (1945)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wBEEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Damoo+Dhotre&pg=PT56|title=Billboard - Vol. 57, No. 3|date=20 January 1945|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> He served in the [[Special Services (entertainment)|Special Services]] branch of the Army. During the war, he entertained servicemen, delivering lectures on wild animal training. At one point, his unit included [[Mickey Rooney]], [[Red Skelton]], [[Sabu (actor)|Sabu]], and [[Bobby Breen]].<ref name="The Bangor Daily News. (1946)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/662005686/?terms=Damoo%20Dhotre&match=2|title=Circus, After Six Years Again In Eastern Maine|first=Oscar|last=Shepard|date=July 15, 1946|newspaper=The Bangor Daily News|access-date=2025-09-11}}</ref>

After three years, he rejoined the American circus scene when the war ended in 1945.<ref name="Pandey, V. (1965)"/> He spent the season of 1946 as a featured act with [[Sparks Circus]].<ref name="Milner Library">{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.illinoisstate.edu/digital/collection/p15990coll5/id/17992|title=Sparks Circus Route Book Season 1946|website=digital.library.illinoisstate.edu|access-date=2025-07-14}}</ref>

By 1947, he was again performing with the Ringling-Barnum show. During the 1949 program, Damoo Dhotre performed his act featuring six black and [[spotted leopard]]s, two [[puma (genus)|puma]]s, and four [[black jaguar]]s.<ref name="Billboard. (1949)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ow4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=Damoo+Dhotre&pg=PT71|title=Billboard|date=16 April 1949|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> For several seasons, the Ringling-Barnum circus featured the mixed cat act in its center ring.<ref name="Billboard. (1950)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9PUDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Damoo+Dhotre&pg=PA62|title=Billboard - Vol. 62, No. 22|date=3 June 1950|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref>

Dhotre resigned from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1949 due to an illness and headed back to Europe.<ref name="Pandey, V. (1965)"/> Following recovery from a surgery, Dhotre rejoined the spotlight at [[Cirque Amar]] in France, opening an extended Paris engagement at [[Porte Maillot]] on 20 May 1950. The cats had been owned by Alfred Court, who had taken them to Ringling Brothers years before and sold them when he left for France. When Ringling disposed of the cats, Court bought them back, sold them to the Amars, and arranged for Dhotre to continue managing the act.<ref name="Billboard. (1950)"/> He spent late 1950 performing across Africa and, by February 1951, was touring [[North Africa]] with Cirque Amar in [[Algeria]], [[Tunisia]], and [[Morocco]].<ref name="Billboard. (1951)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xh8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=Damoo+Dhotre&pg=PA63|title=Billboard|date=10 February 1951|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref>

Two years later, worsening health brought Dhotre back to his native India.<ref name="Pandey, V. (1965)"/> He spent his final years residing in [[Shukrawar Peth, Pune]].<ref name="The Indian Express. (2010)">{{cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/great-grandson-wants-dhotre-memorial/|title=Great grandson wants Dhotre memorial|first=Nisha|last=Nambiar|date=3 September 2010|newspaper=The Indian Express|access-date=2025-07-24}}</ref>

==Death==
Damoo Gangaram Dhotre died in Pune, Maharashtra, India, on 23 January 1973.<ref name="Champad, S. (2013)"/>

==Legacy==
He recounted his story to Richard Taplinger in ''Wild Animal Man,'' published in 1961.<ref name="Internet Archive">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/wildanimalman00dhot/page/n3/mode/1up|title=Wild animal man|website=archive.org|date=1961|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref> The autobiography documents the trainer's career highlights and experiences in the circus.<ref name="Montana Libraries.">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tHcVAAAAIAAJ&q=Damoo+Dhotre|title=Montana Libraries - Volumes 13-17|date=|author=|publisher=|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-07-13}}</ref>

The [[Circus World Museum]] received several items from Dhotre in December 1963.<ref name="Baraboo News Republic. (1963)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/869227058/?match=1&terms=Damoo%20Dhotre|title=Museum Has New Collection|date=December 21, 1963|newspaper=Baraboo News Republic|access-date=2025-09-11}}</ref>

Damoo Dhotre was inducted into the [[International Circus Hall of Fame]] in 1973.<ref name="International Circus Hall of Fame">{{cite web|url=https://circushalloffame.com/circus-hall-of-fame-inductees/|title=Circus Hall of Fame Inductees|website=circushalloffame.com|date=9 November 2016 |access-date=2025-07-12}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhotre, Damoo}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Pune]]
[[Category:20th-century circus performers]]
[[Category:Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus people]]

Damoo Dhotre - Revision history

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