Queenie x 2 - Elefantinnen und ihre Geschichte...

From Caroline Fenton's book "Queenie's last ride", result of a four and a half years' research

Dies ist eine Illustration aus einem Kinderbuch zu Queenie in Melbourne, für das Caroline Fenton viereinhab Jahre recherchiert hat. Wie so viele Elefanten ihrer Zeit war sie gezwungen, kleine und große Zoobesucher durch den Zoo zu reiten. Bis zu 500 pro Tag. Vierzig Jahre machte sie dies tagein, tagaus bis sie an einem Tag ihren Pfleger Wilfried Lawson zu Tode quetschte. 1945 wurde sie daraufhin erschossen. Queenie war 6 als sie 1902 in den Zoo kam. Zwischen 1950 und 1980 wurde in den meisten Zoos diese Art der Attraktion abgeschafft.-

This is an illustration of Caroline Fenton's children's book in which she presents the story of elephant Queenie who was very popular at Melbourne Zoo. As so many elephants of her time living in a zoo, she was forced to give rides to visitors. 500 per day. She did that patiently for 40 years until she crushed her keeper Wilfried Lawson to death. She was put down in 1945.

"Queenie was six when she arrived in Melbourne in 1902. She started giving rides aged nine and soon became a star attraction. Children would travel from afar for a ride, and she was a big earner for the zoo. After Lawson's death, a coroner's inquest found her guilty of killing her keeper. Following public support, the zoo board decided to keep her as an exhibit. But nine months later, officially due to a war-time shortage of fodder, Queenie was destroyed.Rides were stopped in most major zoos between 1950 and 1980.

"She was often teased by children and her keeper, Andrew Wilkie, said she would retaliate by using her trunk to "tumble such trespassers over in the dust".

"On one occasion, a group of about fifteen schoolboys were teasing Queenie by offering her nuts and fruit in turn and then withdrawing the food just as she reached for it. This game continued for a while until the elephant retreated to the pool behind her house. She returned some minutes later and, imitating their behaviour, held out her trunk to each boy in turn, withdrawing it before they would touch it. The boys were delighted with this variation of the game until, as if carrying out a pre-planned attack, she soaked them all thoroughly with a well-aimed spray of dirty water from her pool." (Source)

Sources & more: - Queenie's last ride, The Age, August 10 2006 - Queenie: One Elephant's Story, by Corinne Fenton and illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe (Black Dog Books) - a children's story.


Ich fand diese Queenie zufällig während ich dabei war, nach einem anderen Elefanten gleichen Namens zu suchen und ebenfals eine Berühmtheit. Auch sie musste Dinge lernen, die normalerweise ein Elefant niemals tun würde.-

I found this Queenie by accident while I was looking for another elephant lady bearing the same name, and being a celebrity herself. She too was taught to do things which usually an elephant would never do in the wild...

In this undated 1958 photo provided courtesy of Liz Dane, Dane is shown performing her act with Queenie the water skiing elephant. The Valdosta Daily Times reports that 59-year-old Queenie was euthanized Monday, June 2, 2011, after her health deteriorated.

Überraschenderweise hat selbst die taz dieser Queenie einen Artikel gewidmet:

... ein Elefant

Sie war ein kleiner grauer Star der späten fünfziger Jahre. Die Bretter, die ihre Welt bedeuteten, waren zwei überdimensionierte Wasserskier, auf denen sie 15 Jahre lang in einem Vergnügungspark in Florida das Publikum begeisterte. Queenie war die vermutlich einzige Elefantin der Welt, die Wasserski fahren konnte. Die Mundharmonika beherrschte sie auch.

Jetzt ist Queenie laut Guardian im Alter von 59 Jahren in ihrem Alterssitz, dem Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta, Georgia, wegen gesundheitlicher Probleme eingeschläfert worden.

Bereits im Alter von einem halben Jahr hatte ihre Besitzerin und Performance-Partnerin Liz Dane die asiatische Elefantin in New York gekauft. Sie sie "sehr traurig" über den Tod Queenies, sagte Dane. Wir auch. (taz 03.06.2011)

And Queenie again...May she rest in peace...(Photo)

Queenie The Water-Skiing Elephant Is Dead

Queenie, the crowd-pleasing water-skiing elephant that made waves across the United States for decades, has died. The amusement park star was believed to be 58 or 59 years old. Born in Thailand and sold as a baby in New York City pet store, Queenie grew up with Liz Dane, a young child who later became the exotic animal's trainer and co-star, at the Dane family's New England home. The family taught the Asian elephant a number of tricks, but none turned out to be more of a crowd-pleaser than the elephant's skill on water skis. Balanced atop a pair of pontoons that had been fused together, and with Dane offering her guidance, Queenie took to the water all around the country and wowed onlookers with her grace and balance. "When you typically see an elephant in a circus, you see a guy giving commands to the elephants and the girls are there for flash," Dane told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. "But when Queenie and I performed, it was just she and I alone in the ring." After Dane's father's death in 1965, the family sold Queenie to a performing elephant troupe. In 1981, Queenie joined Circus Gatti, where she continued to amaze crowds until she retired to Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta, Ga., in 2003. Queenie was thought to be one of the oldest Asian elephants in North America and considered a pioneer for other water-skiing animal acts, such as Twiggy the water-skiing squirrel.

But due to her health issues, officials at Wild Adventures in Georgia made the decision to euthanize Queenie late last month.

"We knew that Queenie's health had been in decline for some time and we have been working with other zoo veterinarians to determine the best way to manage Queenie's chronic health issues," Wild Adventures general manager Bob Montgomery told WCTV in a May 31 statement. "Unfortunately we had to make a quality of life decision this morning.

"We are comforted by the fact that we were able to give her a great place to live out the rest of her life and are thankful for the time we were able to share her with our guests and our team members. She will be missed," he said. (Huffington Post 06.06.2011)

Related:
- Famous animals- Twiggy/ 24.05.2011