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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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NOVEMBER 2005
Animal Obituaries
José, a four-month old blackfooted ferret who was raised at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and released into the wild near Wolf Creek, Colorado in late October 2005, was killed by a coyote or badger just three days later. "We found only his radio transmitter, and it was all chewed up," Bureau of Land Management biologist Brian Holmes told Dave Philipps of the Colorado Springs Gazette. Philipps learned that the survival rate for reintroduced blackfooted ferrets ranges from one in 10 in Colorado to one in 30 in New Mexico. Two other ferrets released at the same time as José are also deceased, but details of their fate were not disclosed.
Eastern Racer Snake #039, 15, was killed by a truck during the first week of November 2005 in Windham County, Vermont. “Long, black and sinuous, #039 belonged to the rarest snake species in Vermont, where only seven other Eastern racers have been found.,” wrote Candance Page of the Burlington Free Press. “Herpetologist Jim Andrews captured and tagged him in 2004 as part of the rediscovery of a species once thought extinct in Vermont. #039 achieved minor celebrity last month,” Page added, “when he was returned to his home after a Herculean effort by humans to save his life after he was found on July 14 on Interstate 91 with a broken jaw, badly injured eye and cuts and bruises. Volunteers fed him through a tube. State transportation officials used his October 5 release to tout their efforts to improve wildlife habitat near highways.”
Bulgy, 50, a hippo born at the Miami Bird Farm but sold to the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno in 1958, was euthanized on November 10 due to incurable painful conditions of age.
Best Mate, 10, three-time winner of the Gold Cup, remembered by Michael Fleet of the Daily Telegraph as “the most popular racehorse in Britain,” stumbled in front of the crowd after his first fall 2005 race, the first race he ever failed to finish. “Jockey Paul Carberry immediately dismounted. Best Mate fell to his knees and rolled over after suffering a fatal heart attack,” Fleet wrote.
Bud, 16, a golden eagle, died from the mosquito-transmitted West Nile virus on September 9 at the Southwest Wildlife Foundation in Cedar City, Utah. Considered a threat to livestock, Bud was trapped in 1991 by Southwest Wildlife Foundation president Martin Tyner. “A frequent flier at schools, businesses, and the Utah Shakespearian Festival, Bud was the foundation's favorite partner for promoting wildlife conservation and birds of prey,” wrote Mark Havnes of the Salt Lake Tribune. “Bud's prowess at publicity landed him last year on the floor of the Utah House of Representatives, where he was feted for his work.” Tyer recognized that Bud had the symptoms of West Nile virus and began treating him on September 6, to no avail.
Future, 2, a male African elephant who lost half of his trunk to a poacher’s wire snare, died on September 12 despite intensive efforts to save him by Sharon Pincott of the Presidential Elephant Conservation Project on the Hwange Estate in Zimbabwe.
Calvin, 30, among the oldest grizzly bears in capivity, died in early November at the Utica Zoo in upstate New York. Born at the Milwaukee County Zoo, Calvin had also lived at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo.