Friday, May 27, 2011

From Eric Beheim #2


Boo%20Skull, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

This elephant skull can currently be seen inside of the San Diego Zoo’s California Condor Exhibit. (The condors are displayed inside a large outdoor area completely enclosed by high, tent-like structure made of wire mesh. To add to the exhibit’s “ambience,” a few assorted animal bones are scattered around inside.) I asked one of the Zoo tour guides if this skull was real and she told me that it was and that it had been found in storage in the Zoo archives. No one seems to know exactly how long it had been in storage, but everyone seems to agree that it had been there for some time. I’m currently trying to find out more about the skull and if any records exist as to the name of the elephant it had come from. Two possible candidates are the male tusker Prince, which the Zoo acquired in 1935 from the Barnes Circus (and who died shortly afterwards after tumbling down into the moat surrounding his enclosure), or the infamous Boo (aka Baby Boo), which the Zoo acquired in 1937 from the Cole Bros. Circus (and who Dr. Harry M. Wegeforth had executed after she attempted to attack a zoo construction superintendent.) I’d like to believe that this is Boo’s skull. Since the skull is being left out in the weather, it will eventually break down into an unrecognizable pile of calcium. At least this photo will help to preserve it in Buckles’ digital archives.

0 comments: