Animal obituaries

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2005:

Bear, dog of Rockinghorse Ranch riding stable owner Dale
Stone, of Big Baddeck, Nova Scotia; Tio, Great Pyranees of Brian
Cherry and Peg Klouda of Victor, Montana; and Bubba and Savannah,
mastiffs of Marcela Egea of Belton, Missouri, all strayed recently
into traps near their homes and were killed. Tio, Bubba, and
Savannah all could have been released but were shot instead. Cherry
and Klouda have formed an organization, Trapping Information
Offensive, in memory of Tio. Trapper Michael Kartman, 39, who
admitted killing Bubba and Savannah, was cited by Missouri
Department of Conservation agent Phil Needham for failing to label
his traps with his name and address and for improper disposal of the
remains of a raccoon, two opossums, and a skunk.

Kumba, 35, the first western lowland gorilla born at the
Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, was euthanized on February 12 due to
acute kidney failure.

Koby, 29, one of the first pair of chimpanzees obtained by
the North Carolina Zoo, died of a heart attack on February 8 while
anesthetized for a physical exam. Arriving at the zoo in 1978,
moving to an outdoor exhibit in 1979, Koby sired nine offspring,
leaving a colony of 12 chimps.

Chobi, 15, remembered by Animal Refuge Kansai founder
Elizabeth Oliver as her “public relations dog,” died on January 20,
2005. “Found as a starving pup on a rubbish heap, he symbolized the
plight of homeless animals and won the hearts of hundreds of people,”
Oliver said. Animal Refuge Kansai, opened in 1990, is now the
largest nonprofit humane society in Japan.

Daphne, the female of a pair of hand-reared paradise
sheldrake ducks who greeted visitors at the wharf of the Tiritiri
Matangi wildlife sanctuary in Whangaparaoa, New Zealand, was among
20 to 30 birds who were shot at the Gulf Harbour Country Club in
early February 2005, reportedly to “tidy up” the grounds before the
mid-February New Zealand Open golf tournament, although club dirctor
Peter Wall later denied that this was the reason. Public outrage
over Daphne’s death threatened to upstage the tournament. Her mate
was reportedly missing.