To the editor:
I am one of those funny, little old ladies who goes to Lincoln Park Zoo and talks to the animals — so I am very sad that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Wankie, a dear elephant friend of mine. Now she has not only left Chicago, but she has left the living world.
On Sunday, April 24, I took my camera to the zoo and hoped to get a last picture of Wankie. I had seen the large crate placed in her enclosure to help get her used to her "trailer home" for her trip to her new home in an undisclosed location. (When and where must be a secret because of those "pesky" animal rights people who are always causing so many problems.)
There was no sign of Wankie that Sunday so went back to the zoo with my camera the next Sunday, May 1. Not only was Wankie nowhere to be seen, but the shipping crate was gone. Now I knew that I would not be able to say goodbye and take a final picture of Wankie.
Sad, I took a couple pictures of the place that Wankie and her two elephant-buddies had called home. I knew all three were gone now. Only this morning on the news did I hear that Wankie was not only gone, but just as dead as her two buddies.
I don’t think Wankie would have wanted me or any other frequent human visitors to be sentimental. She would have wanted to leave with her dignity still intact, but she would have wanted me to give you this message:
Please, Chicagoans, let’s just look at pictures of African elephants. Let’s not pretend that elephants from Africa can thrive in zoos with the kind of winters we have in Chicago.
CJ Herhold
Chicago |
