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Hansa, the 6 year old elephant from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, died suddenly sometime during the night on Friday, June 8th.

 http://www.komotv.com/news/7905822.html?video=pop&t=a

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003739820_webelephant08m.html

http://www.zoo.org/pressroom/pr/2007/pr06_08_2007.htm

 My brother in law and sister work at the zoo.  Russ is an elephant keeper.  I have ‘known’ Hansa from her conception.  The grief that I am feeling this day overwhelms me…I can’t imagine how sad the zoo staff is. 

A neocropsy will be performed to see what caused her death.  Hansa had been a complete picture of elephant health until a week or so ago.  Multiple tests and treatments have been administered.  The tests were negative.  The zoo staff closely monitored her over the last week.  Her death has come as a great shock.

Elephants are amazing animals. 

I am grieving for my brother in law and sister, the entire zoo staff.  I am grieving for Chai, Hansa’s mom and her ‘aunti’ Watoto.  My heart aches and while I haven’t seen Chai for a few years, I have memories of playing with her trunk, giving her ‘zerbers’ and feeding her carrots.  Watching the videos on the zoo website was always a treat.

She loved the exercise balls that her keepers would give her to play with.  The picture you see is titled “Joy” and it fits more than the image can express.

Already though, the so called ‘animal rights’ crazies are speaking against the zoo.  They are speaking against the people who loved and cared for her.  I wish their tongues could be silent. 

My heart goes out to everyone at the zoo.  But epecially to her keepers: both past and present.  My prayers are with you all.

 While my own heart is breaking, I can’t imagine how sad the zoo staff must be.  All day I have been remembering her through pictures, re-reading the book written about her.  Remember how she loved her exercise balls?  We are all a little richer because of the joy she brought to so many people.  Now in our grief may we find some solace in her short life:  she lived life to the fullest, she loved completely and she was “supremely happy.”

This entry was posted on Friday, June 8th, 2007 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Webmistress Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.