Queenie (waterskiing elephant)
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Comment: 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.-- Eclipsed (talk) (COI Declaration) 10:47, 19 July 2012 (UTC)
Queenie (1952-2011) was a water skiing elephant.[1][2][3][4]
She was born in Thailand and imported to the U.S. as a baby.
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.
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.
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.
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."
In 1967, Liz Dane's parents sold Queenie to a circus.
In 2003, Queenie was sent to Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia to live out her retirement.
When Queenie died in 2011, she was believed to be one of the oldest Asian elephants in North America.
References
- ^ Beasley, David (June 3, 2011). "Water-skiing Asian elephant dies in Georgia at 58". Reuters.
- ^ Batty, David (June 3, 2011). "Queenie, the waterskiing elephant, dies". The Guardian.
- ^ Staff (June 3 2011). "Queenie, the world's only water skiing elephant, dies aged 59 at theme park where she retired". Daily Mail.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Staff (June 11, 1959). "Queenie May Get Skids On Skis In Skit Here". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
