There are some sad sad faces in our house. Malti, the 15 month old elephant at the Calgary zoo died yesterday after a week-long battle with elephant herpesvirus. She was loved by everyone who frequented the zoo. Her mother had had a calf a few years previous which died at three weeks old after the mother rejected it and refused to care for it. When Malti was born, zookeepers made a heroic effort to get the mother to bond with the babe and the entire city rooted for this little elephant. When Malti celebrated her first birthday in August everyone was so delighted that this little elephant had made it. Then she suddenly got sick and it all ended so fast.
Above is a picture of Ruby in front of Malti's pen, taken about a year ago. The Calgary zoo has had so many losses in the past year or so. I don't know what's up -- but I still support the zoo completely. I've made no secret of the fact that I don't really love this city, but the zoo is one of the few things that I really like about it. It's right in the centre of the city, on an island in the middle of the river. It's a great zoo and I hope they get over a string of really bad luck so that they can continue on strong.
Ruby is having a hard time dealing with this. I suggested that she draw a picture of Malti to send to the zookeepers and the other elephants to make them feel better. Then Ruby said "and I'll draw a magic button on the picture and Malti's mother can push the button with her trunk and Malti will walk out of the picture and be alive again." If only, my sweet.
For a better picture of Malti, click over here or here.
No comments:
Post a Comment