Jump to content

Queenie (waterskiing elephant): Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m →References: ce/rf
 
(154 intermediate revisions by 32 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{For|the Melbourne Zoo elephant|Queenie (Melbourne elephant)}}
{{AFC submission|||ts=20120719060002|u=Swezlex|ns=5}}
[[File:Liz Dane with Queenie (waterskiing elephant).jpg|thumb|300px|Queenie waterskiing with Liz Dane, {{circa}} 1958]]
{{afc comment|1=note: there's already an article [[Queenie (elephant)]], but it is about a different elephant from Australia. So some type of disambiguation will be needed.-- [[User:Eclipsed|Eclipsed]] [[User talk:Eclipsed|(talk)]] [[User:Eclipsed/COI Declaration|(COI Declaration)]] 10:47, 19 July 2012 (UTC)}}
'''Queenie''' (1952 – May 31, 2011) was a [[Captivity (animal)|captive]] female [[Asian elephant]]. She was noted in the late 1950s and early 1960s for [[waterskiing]] for entertainment.


==Early life==
----
Queenie was born [[Wildlife|wild]] in 1952 in [[Thailand]]. She was exported to the [[United States]] and put on sale in the [[Henry Trefflich|Trefflich pet store]] in [[New York City]]. In 1953, at 6 months of age she was sold to Bill Green, and his daughter, Liz. The pre-arranged purchase was filmed by [[Today (U.S. TV program)|''The Today Show'']]. The 250-pound baby elephant was later taken to a private zoo in [[Fairlee, Vermont]].<ref name="Whitcomb-2009" /><ref name="Kilby-2009" /><ref name="Beasly-2011" />
'''Queenie''' (1952-2011) was a water skiing [[elephant]].<ref name="Beasly-2011" /><ref name="Batty-2011" /><ref name="DM-2011" /><ref name="PPG-1959" />


==Career==
She was born in Thailand and imported to the U.S. as a baby.
Queenie and Dane's act made appearances at state and county fairs, TV shows, and circuses around the country. During the show, Queenie and Dane would water ski, play the harmonica, and dance.


Marj and Jim Rusing, the owners of a Florida tourist attraction called De Leon Springs, introduced Queenie to water skiing in 1950's. Queenie was billed as "The World's Only Water Skiing Elephant" after she replaced the world's first water skiing elephant, Sunshine Sally.<ref name="Williamson-2009" />
In the Autumn of 1954 nine-year-old Liz Dane asked her father to buy her a pet. Dane's father bought a 250-pound elephant who they took to their private zoo in Fairlee, Vermont.


Liz Dane said Queenie was not being mistreated, "She thoroughly loved skiing. She would put her trunk in the water and get a big scoop of water and spray it all over the place! She loved it. Elephants can swim, That particular area, the water wasn't that deep. And even if she did spill over, they can swim. There was no danger."<ref name="Beasly-2011" /><ref name="Williamson-2009" />
Queenie performed at state and county fairs, tv shows, and circuses around the country. Over the years, Queenie learned a number of skills, including water skiing and playing the harmonica.


In 1965, she appeared in a series of print advertisement for the [[Mercury outboard motors]] company.<ref name="Tifde-1965" /> She also appeared on [[The Tonight Show]] and on [[I've Got a Secret]].<ref name="Kilby-2009" /><ref name="Williamson-2009" /><ref name="Liebowitz-2006" />
A Florida couple, Marj and Jim Rusing taught Queenie to water ski during the 1950s and 1960s. The Rusings trained other elephants to ski, but in the 50's Queenie was the world's only water-skiing elephant. Queenie would water ski for tourists at De Leon Springs, a private roadside park near DeLand, Florida.


In 1967 Queenie was sold to an "elephant performance team" in Michigan. In 1981 she was sold to Circus Gatti.<ref name="Harper-2011" />
According to Liz Dane, Queenie liked water skiing. "She would put her trunk in the water and get a big scoop of water and spray it all over the place! She loved it. Elephants can swim, That particular area, the water wasn't that deep. And even if she did spill over, they can swim. There was no danger."


===Pittsburgh Incident===
In 1967, Liz Dane's parents sold Queenie to a circus.
In June, 1959 during an appearance at the Bicentennial Festival in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], waves from a passing [[towboat]] caused Queenie to fall off her skis. Bill Green, who had been waterskiing next to Queenie, held her snorkel above the water until a crane was found and used to haul the elephant out of the water.<ref name="Liebowitz-2006" /><ref name="UPI-1959" /><ref name="PPG-1959-06-13" />


According to a news article from the [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]], the director of the local [[Humane Society of the United States|Humane Society]] said he had "received 25 telephone calls protesting the risk taken by Queenie when she performs on her huge water skis in the [[Allegheny River]]." The article also quoted the curator of [[mammals]] at the [[Carnegie Museum of Natural History|Carnegie Museum]] as saying "An elephant is provided with a natural snorkel tube. Elephants like daily baths. They draw water up in their trunks and squirt themselves. I think water-skiing would be all right if the elephant isn't afraid of it and likes to do it." Additionally, the local [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] county chairman was "highly suspicious of any attempt to eliminate Queenie's act" and quoted as saying "It might be a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] plot."<ref name="PPG-1959-06-11" />
In 2003, Queenie was sent to Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia to live out her retirement.


==Later years==
When Queenie died in 2011, she was believed to be one of the oldest Asian elephants in North America.'''
Queenie was retired from the Circus Gatti in 2003 and sent to the [[Wild Adventures]] theme park in [[Valdosta, Georgia]].<ref name="Harper-2011" /><ref name="Elephant-Enyclopedia" /><ref name="Batty-2011" /> In 2011, she was [[Euthanasia|euthanized]] because of chronic health problems.<ref name="Batty-2011" /><ref name="Poling-2011" /><ref name="Flagg-2011" /><ref name="WALB-2011" /> According to an obituary in the UK's ''[[The Guardian]]'', "she was believed to be one of the oldest Asian elephants in North America."<ref name="Guardian-2011" />


==See also==
* [[Captive elephants]]
* [[Elephant cognition]]
* [[List of individual elephants]]
* [[Twiggy the Water-Skiing Squirrel]]


== References ==
==External links==
{{external media
| float = right
| width =
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp09lk_kZCU The World's Only Water-Skiing Elephant] from the [[Daytona Beach News-Journal]]. (Provided by Liz Dane)
| audio1 = [https://web.archive.org/web/20111125103206/http://myfloridahistory.org/audio/download/427/FFProgram012a.mp3 Queenie, the Water Skiing Elephant, interview with Liz Dane (MP3)] from ''Florida Frontiers'' radio show, episode 12 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111125090605/http://myfloridahistory.org/frontiers/shows/012], from the [[Florida Historical Society]]
| image1 = [https://web.archive.org/web/20160203160410/http://news.yahoo.com/photos/undated-1958-photo-provided-courtesy-liz-dane-dane-photo-020509684.html Liz Dane performing with Queenie the water skiing elephant in 1958.] from the [[Associated Press]]. (Provided by Liz Dane)
| image2 = [https://books.google.com/books?id=TWfbHFP586AC&dq=Queenie%20elephant%20waterski&pg=PA10 Queenie, the water-skiing elephant, and trainer Elisabeth Green, 1960s] from the book ''Images of America - Along the Connecticut River'' by Phyllis Lavelle, published by [[Arcadia Publishing]]
}}
* {{cite journal
|url = http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2008-03/features/elephant
|title = Only in New England: An Elephant Never Forgets
|author = Dane, Elizabeth G.
|issue = March/April 2008
|journal = [[Yankee (magazine)|Yankee]]
|date = 20 February 2008
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|1|refs=
{{Reflist|1|refs=
<ref name="Elephant-Enyclopedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=3009 |title=Queenie at Wild Adventures |publisher=Elephant Encyclopedia |date=June 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529170648/http://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=3009 |archivedate=May 29, 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="Tifde-1965">{{cite news
|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Mq5IAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FgENAAAAIBAJ&pg=957%2C242223
|title = No Elephant Joke, Queenie Does Ski
|author = Tifde, Tom
|date = September 2, 1965
|work = [[Meriden Journal]]
|publisher = [[Newspaper Enterprise Association]]
}}</ref>

<ref name="UPI-1959">{{cite news
|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NrMhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pJsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3944%2C3154838
|title = Man Saves Elephant From Drowning
|author = United Press International
|author-link = United Press International
|date = June 9, 1959
|work = via [[Reading Eagle]]
}}</ref>

<ref name="PPG-1959-06-11">{{cite news
|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f8tRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5290,1781629
|title = Queenie May Get Skids On Skis In Skit Here
|date = June 11, 1959
|work = [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]
}}</ref>

<ref name="PPG-1959-06-13">{{cite news
|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gctRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1685%2C2109935
|work =Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
|date = June 13, 1959
|title = Any Lady Elephant Has a Mind of Her Own - Ski or No Ski Up to Queenie
}}</ref>

<ref name="Liebowitz-2006">{{cite news
|url = http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/queenie-and-friend-reunited
|title = Queenie and friend reunited
|author = Liebowitz, Sarah
|work = [[Concord Monitor]]
|date = July 18, 2006
}}</ref>

<ref name="Whitcomb-2009">{{cite web
|url = http://www.uppervalleylife.com/pdf/rare_bird.pdf
|title = Animals of the World in Fairlee, Vt. Backyard
|author = Whitcomb, Laura jean
|date = June 24, 2009
|pages = 50–54
|work = Upper Valley Life Magazine (Hanover, New Hampshire)
}}</ref>

<ref name="Williamson-2009">{{cite news
|url = http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20091002/ENT/310029998
|work = [[The Daytona Beach News-Journal]]
|author = Williamson, Ronald
|title = Water-skiing elephant at DeLeon Springs
|date = October 2, 2009
}}</ref>

<ref name="Kilby-2009">{{cite web
|url = http://studiohourglass.blogspot.nl/2009/12/liz-and-queenie-waterskiing-elephant.html
|title = Liz and Queenie (the Water Skiing Elephant of Ponce de Leon Springs)
|author = Kilby, Rick
|date = December 2, 2009
}}</ref>

<ref name="WALB-2011">{{cite news
|url = http://www.walb.com/story/14765836/famous-elephant-dies-at-wild-adventures
|title = Famous elephant dies at Wild Adventures
|publisher = [[WALB]] News
|date = June 3, 2011
}}</ref>

<ref name="Poling-2011">{{cite news
|url = http://valdostadailytimes.com/local/x564435758/Wild-Adventures-Queenie-the-elephant-dies
|title = Wild Adventures' Queenie the elephant dies
|author = Poling, Dean
|date = June 1, 2011
|work = [[The Valdosta Daily Times]]
}}</ref>

<ref name="Harper-2011">{{cite news
|url = http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20110601/ARTICLES/306019981
|title = Water-skiing elephant dies
|author = Harper, Mark
|date = June 1, 2011
|work = The Daytona Beach News-Journal
}}</ref>


<ref name="Beasly-2011">{{cite news
<ref name="Beasly-2011">{{cite news
|url = http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/03/us-elephant-death-idUSTRE7526G920110603
|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-elephant-death-idUSTRE7526G920110603
|title = Water-skiing Asian elephant dies in Georgia at 58
|title = Water-skiing Asian elephant dies in Georgia at 58
|author = Beasley, David
|author = Beasley, David
|date = June 3, 2011
|date = June 3, 2011
|work =
|publisher = [[Reuters]]
|publisher = [[Reuters]]
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


<ref name="Batty-2011">{{cite news
<ref name="Batty-2011">{{cite news
|url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/03/queenie-water-skiing-elephant-dies
|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/03/queenie-water-skiing-elephant-dies
|title = Queenie, the waterskiing elephant, dies
|title = Queenie, the waterskiing elephant, dies
|author = Batty, David
|author = Batty, David
|date = June 3, 2011
|date = June 3, 2011
|work = [[The Guardian]]
|work = [[The Guardian]]
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


<ref name="DM-2011">{{cite news
<ref name="Guardian-2011">{{cite news
|url = https://www.theguardian.com/p/2pge5/tf
|url = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393823/Queenie-worlds-water-skiing-elephant-dies-aged-59-theme-park-retired.html
|title = Queenie, the world's only water skiing elephant, dies aged 59 at theme park where she retired
|title = Queenie, the waterskiing elephant, dies
|author = Staff
|author = Staff
|date = June 3 2011
|date = June 3, 2011
|work = [[Daily Mail]]
|work = [[The Guardian]]
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


<ref name="PPG-1959">{{cite news
<ref name="Flagg-2011">{{cite news
|url = http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1sjbb/NCN61011/resources/index.htm?
|url = http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f8tRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5290,1781629&dq=queenie+water&hl=en
|title = Queenie May Get Skids On Skis In Skit Here
|title = Famous Elephant With Local Ties, Dies At Age 58
|author =
|author = Flagg, Bryan
|date = June 11, 1959
|date = June 10, 2011
|work = [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]
|work = Northcountry News (New Hampshire)
|page = A1, A3
}}</ref>
}}</ref>



}}
}}


[[Category:2011 animal deaths]]
*http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images/113308/454130.jpg
[[Category:Animal deaths by euthanasia]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp09lk_kZCU
[[Category:Waterskiing]]
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Sg-2dlQHY
[[Category:Elephants in popular culture]]
[[Category:Individual elephants in the United States]]

Latest revision as of 03:47, 7 June 2024

For the Melbourne Zoo elephant, see Queenie (Melbourne elephant).
Queenie waterskiing with Liz Dane, c. 1958

Queenie (1952 – May 31, 2011) was a captive female Asian elephant. She was noted in the late 1950s and early 1960s for waterskiing for entertainment.

Early life

[edit]

Queenie was born wild in 1952 in Thailand. She was exported to the United States and put on sale in the Trefflich pet store in New York City. In 1953, at 6 months of age she was sold to Bill Green, and his daughter, Liz. The pre-arranged purchase was filmed by The Today Show. The 250-pound baby elephant was later taken to a private zoo in Fairlee, Vermont.[1][2][3]

Career

[edit]

Queenie and Dane's act made appearances at state and county fairs, TV shows, and circuses around the country. During the show, Queenie and Dane would water ski, play the harmonica, and dance.

Marj and Jim Rusing, the owners of a Florida tourist attraction called De Leon Springs, introduced Queenie to water skiing in 1950's. Queenie was billed as "The World's Only Water Skiing Elephant" after she replaced the world's first water skiing elephant, Sunshine Sally.[4]

Liz Dane said Queenie was not being mistreated, "She thoroughly loved skiing. She would put her trunk in the water and get a big scoop of water and spray it all over the place! She loved it. Elephants can swim, That particular area, the water wasn't that deep. And even if she did spill over, they can swim. There was no danger."[3][4]

In 1965, she appeared in a series of print advertisement for the Mercury outboard motors company.[5] She also appeared on The Tonight Show and on I've Got a Secret.[2][4][6]

In 1967 Queenie was sold to an "elephant performance team" in Michigan. In 1981 she was sold to Circus Gatti.[7]

Pittsburgh Incident

[edit]

In June, 1959 during an appearance at the Bicentennial Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, waves from a passing towboat caused Queenie to fall off her skis. Bill Green, who had been waterskiing next to Queenie, held her snorkel above the water until a crane was found and used to haul the elephant out of the water.[6][8][9]

According to a news article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the director of the local Humane Society said he had "received 25 telephone calls protesting the risk taken by Queenie when she performs on her huge water skis in the Allegheny River." The article also quoted the curator of mammals at the Carnegie Museum as saying "An elephant is provided with a natural snorkel tube. Elephants like daily baths. They draw water up in their trunks and squirt themselves. I think water-skiing would be all right if the elephant isn't afraid of it and likes to do it." Additionally, the local Republican county chairman was "highly suspicious of any attempt to eliminate Queenie's act" and quoted as saying "It might be a Democratic plot."[10]

Later years

[edit]

Queenie was retired from the Circus Gatti in 2003 and sent to the Wild Adventures theme park in Valdosta, Georgia.[7][11][12] In 2011, she was euthanized because of chronic health problems.[12][13][14][15] According to an obituary in the UK's The Guardian, "she was believed to be one of the oldest Asian elephants in North America."[16]

See also

[edit]
[edit]
External media
Images
image icon Liz Dane performing with Queenie the water skiing elephant in 1958. from the Associated Press. (Provided by Liz Dane)
image icon Queenie, the water-skiing elephant, and trainer Elisabeth Green, 1960s from the book Images of America - Along the Connecticut River by Phyllis Lavelle, published by Arcadia Publishing
Audio
audio icon Queenie, the Water Skiing Elephant, interview with Liz Dane (MP3) from Florida Frontiers radio show, episode 12 [1], from the Florida Historical Society
Video
video icon The World's Only Water-Skiing Elephant from the Daytona Beach News-Journal. (Provided by Liz Dane)
  • Dane, Elizabeth G. (20 February 2008). "Only in New England: An Elephant Never Forgets". Yankee (March/April 2008).

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Whitcomb, Laura jean (June 24, 2009). "Animals of the World in Fairlee, Vt. Backyard" (PDF). Upper Valley Life Magazine (Hanover, New Hampshire). pp. 50–54.
  2. ^ a b Kilby, Rick (December 2, 2009). "Liz and Queenie (the Water Skiing Elephant of Ponce de Leon Springs)".
  3. ^ a b Beasley, David (June 3, 2011). "Water-skiing Asian elephant dies in Georgia at 58". Reuters.
  4. ^ a b c Williamson, Ronald (October 2, 2009). "Water-skiing elephant at DeLeon Springs". The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
  5. ^ Tifde, Tom (September 2, 1965). "No Elephant Joke, Queenie Does Ski". Meriden Journal. Newspaper Enterprise Association.
  6. ^ a b Liebowitz, Sarah (July 18, 2006). "Queenie and friend reunited". Concord Monitor.
  7. ^ a b Harper, Mark (June 1, 2011). "Water-skiing elephant dies". The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
  8. ^ United Press International (June 9, 1959). "Man Saves Elephant From Drowning". via Reading Eagle.
  9. ^ "Any Lady Elephant Has a Mind of Her Own - Ski or No Ski Up to Queenie". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 13, 1959.
  10. ^ "Queenie May Get Skids On Skis In Skit Here". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 11, 1959.
  11. ^ "Queenie at Wild Adventures". Elephant Encyclopedia. June 4, 2011. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012.
  12. ^ a b Batty, David (June 3, 2011). "Queenie, the waterskiing elephant, dies". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Poling, Dean (June 1, 2011). "Wild Adventures' Queenie the elephant dies". The Valdosta Daily Times.
  14. ^ Flagg, Bryan (June 10, 2011). "Famous Elephant With Local Ties, Dies At Age 58". Northcountry News (New Hampshire). p. A1, A3.
  15. ^ "Famous elephant dies at Wild Adventures". WALB News. June 3, 2011.
  16. ^ Staff (June 3, 2011). "Queenie, the waterskiing elephant, dies". The Guardian.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Queenie_(waterskiing_elephant)&oldid=1227664881"