ANIMAL OBITUARIES

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2000:

Bart the Bear, 23, the 9’6”, 1,500-pound ursine star of more than a dozen Hollywood films, was euthanized on May 10 after a two-year bout with cancer. Bart appeared in Windwalker, The Edge, White Fang, The Bear, The Great Outdoors, and Legends of the Fall, performing especially well with Anthony Hopkins, said to trainers Lynne and Richard Seus, who bought him from a zoo as a five-pound cub in 1978.

Michael, 27, male companion of Koko the signing gorilla at the Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, California, died on April 19 from a sudden heart attack. Like Koko, Michael learned and used American Sign Language, but was better known for his painting. Born in the Cameroun, he was acquired by language researcher Francine Patterson in 1976 as a potential mate for Koko––but though they became close friends, Koko rejected him as a suitor.

Sundari, 20, a white Bengal tiger belonging to the Cincinnati Zoo but on permanent loan to the Greenville Zoo since 1992, was euthanized on April 15 due to incurable facial cancer.

Tasha, 8, a Siberian husky, was allegedly poisoned on May 5 at his home in Prunedale, California, by Joseph Novak, 57, of Morgan Hill, who allegedly also poisoned alcoholic drink mixes belonging to Gail Sager, 47, after Sager broke off an e-mail relationship. Sager, her sister, and a friend did not consume the drinks. Novak was held on $850,000 bail, charged with attempted murder, burglary, and cruelty to animals, after reportedly telling Sager three days later what he had done.

Susi, 39, the oldest rhinoceros in Europe, was euthanized on May 11 at the Zurich Zoo in Switzerland, her home since she was brought from Kenya in 1965. Associated Press reported that she “participated in a research project that showed rhinos see better than elephants, donkeys, and ferrets, and about as well as cats and horses.”

Elsie, a manatee residing at Blue Spring State Park and the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge along the St. Johns River in Florida, was found dead on May 4 from injuries inflicted in a collision with a power boat. Elsie was the 44th Florida manatee killed by a boat this year.