From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2000:


Animal obituaries


Sakhi, a 13-month-old tigress, was tranquilized and skinned as
the alleged climax of a 108-day series of tantric rituals on the night of
October 5 at the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, India. The crime
coincided with the last day of the annual festival of Kali, the Hindu
blood-goddess. Most Hindus eschew animal sacrifice, but blood sacrifice
is central to Kali-worship. Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
interrupted his recovery from knee surgery to demand an investigation, and
contributed to a reward fund for apprehension of the killers, who remained
at large. Nehru Zoo curator B. Trinada Rao was transferred to another job,
four members of his staff were suspended, and the government of Andra
Pradesh state allocated extra funds to improve security at the Nehru Zoo,
the Sri Venkateswara Zoo in Tirumala, and the Indira Gandhi Zoological
Park in Visakhapatnam, whose vulnerability had been brought to the
attention of authorities on several occasions by Visakha SPCA secretary
Pradeep Kumar Nath. The killing of Sakhi also brought a series of police
raids against alleged poachers. The raids netted two fresh tiger pelts,
but neither matched Sakhi's markings.

Annie, a 17-year-old chimpanzee, drowned at the Dublin Zoo in
Dublin, Ireland, on October 19 in a futile effort to rescue her infant
son Angus, who cried for help after climbing over the electric fence which
separates the chimp exhibit from a moat. Annie crawled under the wire and
tried to crawl back with Angus on her back, but Angus hit the wire, was
shocked, and fell into the moat as Annie leaped after him. Both chimps
were newly arrived on loan from the Belfast Zoo. The drownings came two
days after a pair of Moluccan cockatoos were stolen from the zoo, and
about two weeks after the Dublin SPCA asked ANIMAL PEOPLE to investigate
the zoo management. The Federation of Zoological Gardens of Britain and
Ireland was reportedly already inquiring into the recent killings by
management of a grey wolf and eight newborn pups, and the deaths of 25
prairie dogs, some of whom ate rat poison while others tunneled into a
cheetah exhibit. The Editor of ANIMAL PEOPLE has received many critical
reports about the zoo from various different sources since 1991.

Ellie, an 11-month-old yellow Labrador, yanked her 12-year-old
German shepherd companion Lightnet from in front of a speeding car near
midnight on October 17 and was fatally injured herself. The dogs' owner,
Angela Love, 40, said she was also nearly struck by the hit-and-run
driver, who stopped just long enough to pull Ellie--still alive--from his
front bumper.

Sir Lancelot, a male dog who was found protecting a litter of
puppies amid the destruction left by the 1999 Santa Clarita wildfire, was
euthanized on October due to cancer which spread even after the amputation
of the leg where the tumors started. He spent his last year in care of
Animal Rescue Volunteers, of Simi Valley, California.
Star, 41, a female golden eagle who was taken from a next in
Montana as a fledgling and held in a small cage for 41 years, died from
the mold infection asperigillosis in early October soon after falconer
Henry Thomas of Arlington, Washington, obtained her for attempted
rehabilitation. A veterinary exam shortly before her death discovered that
she had also at some point suffered brain damage, an eye injury, and a
broken wing.

Squeak, an elk rescued as a fawn in 1998 by Marsha McCain and Kayo
Armentrout of Woodland Park, Colorado, after her mother was roadkilled,
was shot on October 27 by a Teller County sheriff's deputy, under orders
from Colorado Division of Wildlife conservation officer Tanya Sharp.
Squeak was wearing an orange vest and Halloween pumpkin costume at the
time, as protection against hunters. About 70 people attended a birthday
party for Squeak in July 2000, and 400 local residents signed a petition
protesting the shooting, which came after hikers compained that Squeak had
chased them.

Summer, an eight-month-old pygmy sperm whale who was believed to
have a good chance of becoming the first of her species to survive 100 days
in captivity, drowned on November 1 after becoming entangled in the
underwater fence at her temporary pen at the City Electric System pier on
Stock Island near Key West. Summer was found stranded on June 21, near the
remains of her mother, who apparently suffocated after ingesting a plastic
bag.

Linus, black Labrador guide dog of Jeannette Small, 57, of
Highland, Missouri, suffered fatal internal injuries on October 20 when
he was fatally mauled by two former hunting dogs who escaped from their
outdoor pen at the Highland Animal Shelter while Small, a longtime
volunteer at the no-kill shelter, was helping to socialize cats for
adoption. The dogs who killed Linus, named Otto and Remus, had been held
as unadoptable for seven years, but were reportedly euthanized after
Linus' death. Since getting Linus in 1996, Small has suffered
disabilities beyond failing eyesight which probably mean she will not be
eligible to receive another guide dog.