Animal obituaries

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2006:
Jesse, 13, a trained service dog, on October 15, 2006
alerted Jamie Hanson, 49, to a housefire started when her cat
knocked over a candle, took Hanson her artificial leg and a
telephone, led her outside, then returned inside and was killed
trying to rescue the cat, who also died.

Martha, 13+, a bald eagle who was injured by a rival dubbed
“Charlotte the harlot” in April 2006 while mate George guarded their
eggs, was euthanized on October 3 at the Tri-State Bird Rescue &
Research Center in Newark, Delaware, due to severe wing injuries
believed to have been suffered from being blown into a tree or power
line during a storm. Martha had recovered at Tri-State from the
earlier incident, while George successfully raised two hatchlings.
Martha and George had raised 16 successful chicks in more than a
decade together on Rosalie Island, Maryland.

Sayang, 22, a Sumatran orangutan, died unexpectedly on
October 22, 2006 an hour after giving birth without apparent
complications at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo. Sayang came to Fort
Wayne from the Sacramento Zoo in October 2003.

Norma, 26, believed to be the oldest lioness in captivity,
was euthanized on September 29, 2006 at the Akron Zoo, her home
since 1994, due to multiple chronic painful conditions. She arrived
from the Cincinnati Zoo with her longtime mate Simba, who was
euthanized in 2005 at age 22.

Onya, 7, a female gray wolf, was shot on August 26, 2006
by a Rock Island County sheriff’s deputy near Coal Valley, Illinois.
Onya and her mate Nanook escaped from the Niabi Zoo on August 24.
Nanook prevously escaped from the zoo in March 2006, remaining at
large for two days.

Kunik, 26, a polar bear who came to the Toronto Zoo from
the Northwest Territories as an orphaned cub, was euthanized in late
September 2006 due to complications of the mosquito-transmitted
disease West Nile encephalitis.