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Splash, 15, a 16-foot male orca born at Marineland
Canada in Niagara, Ontario, sold to SeaWorld in 1992, died on April 5
at SeaWorld San Diego. Splash suffered from a series of infections and
illnesses that apparently began after he seriously scraped his face in
a 1994 collision with the side of his tank.
Dare, 6, a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle,
died on March 10 at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation
Center on Topsail Island, North Carolina. Found as a stranded one-year-old
in Dare County in 1999, Dare was emaciated and battered from collisions
with boats. She was to be returned to the sea in September 1999 when Hurricane
Floyd hit. Volunteers fleeing the rescue center took her home with them,
but then had to flee their home as well. Flood water contaminated Dare’s
tank, and she never fully recovered.
Mumbali, 7, a gorilla who lived her whole
life at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, was euthanized on April 28, after
three weeks of unsuccessful treatment, due to acute kidey failure from
an unknown cause. Her 9-year-old sister Rollie fell ill first with similar
symptoms, but got better.
Trixie, 18, a polar bear born to zoo-bred
parents at the Bronx Zoo in 1987, transferred to the Roger Williams Park
Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island in 1989, died under sedation on April
29 as she was being prepared for temporary relocation to the Indianapolis
Zoo while her habitat was rebuilt.
Big Red, four months, a Duroc pig used by
Randall’s High Diving Racers, a carnival show operated by Virgil
and Velma Randall of Arkansas, was electrocuted on March 17 at the Star
of Texas Fair & Rodeo, after plunging four feet into a tank of water.
Another pig dived into the water seconds later but was unharmed. The Randalls
claimed it was their first accident in 15 years.
Sitka, 10, a female Pacific walrus who was
captured under an aborignal subsistence hunting quota in 1995, residing
at the Indianapolis Zoo since May 1995, died during surgery on April 7.
The surgical team had just removed a pine cone that blocked her intestines
and kept her from eating or drinking.
Tsavo,
14, a giraffe, was euthanized at the Columbus Zoo on April 23 after his
keepers found him lying in his cage and in eight hours of effort were
unable to get him up. The previous day, two Columbus Zoo zebras named
Flora and Fauna panicked and broke their necks by bolting into fence posts,
after being moved to a temporary holding area at Darby Dan Farms. Two
weeks earlier, a giraffe namd Kenya died from heart failure while under
treatment for a chronic illness. All four animals lived in a section of
the zoo that is to be replaced in five years with a $125 million African
Savanna exhibit.
Buenos, 53, a black spider monkey believed
to have been the world’s oldest non-human primate other than great
apes, died from coronary trouble on March 26 at the Japan Monkey Center
in Aichi. “Just as we were preparing to apply for the Guinness Book,
she passed away peacefully,” center manager Akira Kato told Agence
France Press. “While lying on a bed, she always wanted to hold our
hands," Kato remembered, speculating that “Her calm and kind
personality greatly helped” her longevity. “Also,” Kato
said, “she started living with a young male monkey 10 years ago,
which might have excited her."
Memorials
In
memory of David Johnson's father.
––Arendse Bernth & Michael McCord
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
In memory of Butchie-Bingo,
loving dog of Gloria, George, and Maya, departed January 4, 2005.
––Gloria Wilkins
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
In memory of Freddie (1987-1995).
Ten years have passed since you left us. You are never forgotten. You
are always loved.
––Lindy, Marvin & Melinda Sobel
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
In memory of Sherman (1988-2005),
our little patriarch. We would not have missed a day with you.
––Lindy, Marvin & Melinda Sobel
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
In memory of Purr Box (12/3/87),
Prometheus (3/21/81), Friendl (10/30/87), Lizzie (5/8/84), Boy Cat (12/26/85),
Miss Penrose (11/18/98), Duke (11/1/98), Purr Box, Jr. (5/1/04) and Blackie
(9/9/96
