Not to ever take anything away from Roy's training abilities, because he was really good. But this trio, Kiki the elephant, Cosi the young lion, and Clark the chimp (who, by the way, gave me my first chimp bite when he chomped my knee) was little more than a happy accident. You'll notice no howdah, Cosi was about a 15 lb. cub when he first was put up there (no planning,"Why don't we just put...). Just a spontaneous lark. Shortly after, "hey, let's toss Clark up there too". Sure, why not. Kiki didn't mind. This went on for about a year or so as the lion grew, we used to walk them out in front of the grandstand. Nothing bad happened, but then we just stopped. Years later, Roy and I talked about this: young male lion, male chimp, African elephant, no howdah, right in front of the public. Good grief. Ignorance is bliss sometimes with those crazy kids from the 70's.
You're welcome, Bob! Sometimes it's fun to relate "here's what happened, I was there!" stories before they all drift off into faulty memories and ancient history.
Ooooooo wait a second. Brain fart. Yes, something DID happen which put a halt to this unique presentation. A partition door slipped during the night in the show building, and a tiger got in and killed Cosi. Sorry about the slip up. That was 40 years ago; the synapses don't connect as quickly and clearly anymore. I hate that.
5 comments:
Roy Wells had a lot to do with the training of this presentation.
Not to ever take anything away from Roy's training abilities, because he was really good. But this trio, Kiki the elephant, Cosi the young lion, and Clark the chimp (who, by the way, gave me my first chimp bite when he chomped my knee) was little more than a happy accident. You'll notice no howdah, Cosi was about a 15 lb. cub when he first was put up there (no planning,"Why don't we just put...). Just a spontaneous lark. Shortly after, "hey, let's toss Clark up there too". Sure, why not. Kiki didn't mind. This went on for about a year or so as the lion grew, we used to walk them out in front of the grandstand. Nothing bad happened, but then we just stopped. Years later, Roy and I talked about this: young male lion, male chimp, African elephant, no howdah, right in front of the public.
Good grief. Ignorance is bliss sometimes with those crazy kids from the 70's.
Thanks Patricia. Good to hear from you.
Bob
You're welcome, Bob! Sometimes it's fun to relate "here's what happened, I was there!" stories before they all drift off into faulty memories and ancient history.
Ooooooo wait a second. Brain fart. Yes, something DID happen which put a halt to this unique presentation. A partition door slipped during the night in the show building, and a tiger got in and killed Cosi. Sorry about the slip up. That was 40 years ago; the synapses don't connect as quickly and clearly anymore. I hate that.
Post a Comment