Animal obituaries

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2002:

Qi Qi, 25, a male Yangtze River dolphin who was the only
member of his species ever kept successfully in captivity, died from
conditions of age on July 14 at the Wuhan Institute of Hydrology in
China, his home for 22 years. Three attempts to provide a mate for
him failed, when all three females died soon after capture. Fewer
than 100 Yangtze River dolphins are believed to remain in the wild.

Phang Dok Khoon, 35, a female Asian elephant, died on July
22 at the Khamphaeng Saen Animal Hospital in Hakhon Pathom,
Thailand, from complications resulting from a calf dying in her
womb. Like Phang Jampa, 27, who died on June 9 from the same
cause, Phang Dok Khoon worked giving rides to tourists. After the
deaths were publicized by the Bangkok Post, a veterinary team from
the Kasetsart University Animal Hospital gave ultrasound examinations
to 17 other pregnant elephants in the Ayutthaya area to try to avoid
any more such cases.

Phang Khammee, a female work elephant who had suffered
severe neck injuries from hauling logs and was addicted to
methamphetamines by her owner, reportedly also a drug user, was
euthanized on July 7 after five years of unsuccessful treatment at
the Friends of Asian Elephants Foundation hospital in Thailand.

Haji, 3, the first Asian elephant born from artificial
insemination, died on July 17 from elephant herpevirus at the
Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Illinois, her lifelong home.
Thirteen zoo elephants have contracted elephant herpevirus since
1983, four of them at the Dickerson Park Zoo. Only two elephants
have survived the disease, one of whom was Haji’s elder sister
Chandra. Successfully treated in 1997, Chandra now lives at the
Oklahoma City Zoo with her half-sister Asha.

Hafiki, 20, an African elephant kept at the Toledo Zoo in
Ohio, died on July 27 while unsuccessfully attempting to deliver a
350-pound male infant. Toledo Zoo elephant manager Don RedFox
reportedly tried from 1987 through 1999 to mate her successfully,
then resorted to artificial insemination in 2000.

Mackle, 25, believed to be the world’s oldest Indian
panther, died on July 22 at the city zoo in Bhopal, India.

Hawkeye, a 150-pound hawksbill sea turtle kept at the Shedd
Aquarium in Chicago since his 1977 confiscation from a smuggler,
died on July 26. The Shedd has returned more than 60 confiscated sea
turtles to the wild, but deemed Hawkeye unreleasable, as no one
knew where he was from.

Ron, 34, for 13 years the leader of the Japanese macaque
troupe at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, died on July 27.

‘Scuse Me, 22, a former champion show-jumping horse who was
donated to the State University of New York at Morrisville in 1994
and sold to slaughter in 1997, died on July 5. ‘Scuse Me escaped
slaughter because SUNY-Morrisville student Tracy Percival found out
what had happened just in time, paid $750 to buy him from the
horsemeat dealer who had acquired him, and raised $3,000 on short
nose to retire him to pasture. But ‘Scuse Me still wanted to
perform. Percival nursed him back to health, and he reportedly
became a consistent winner at small shows throughout central New York
state.

Cheery the Pigeon, 20+, one of the best-known birds in
Manhattan, died on June 17, 2002. “I found him with a broken wing
on 2nd Avenue in 1983,” recalled his person, Sheila Dines. “He
never flew well enough to be released, but adapted well to apartment
life. I often felt that we lived in his apartment, and I was just
the housekeeper. He became quite indignant when a dog visitor tried
to invade his space, and retaliated by taking a bath in the dog’s
water.”