The Lives They Lived

The year 2005 saw the death of some truly great animals. In the first part of our series "The Lives They Lived," we remember two who were just recently taken from our midst.

We remember Beau, the guide dog who helped Moira Shea, a nuclear policy aide to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Shea and Beau helped change the rules of the Senate, which passed a resolution on their behalf to allow service dogs onto the Senate floor. The 13-year-old yellow lab was euthanized on December 9.


We also pause to reflect on the life of Rapunzel, the Sumatran rhinoceros at the Bronx Zoo, who died on December 22. She was in her 30s and had lived at the Bronx Zoo for 15 years, after she was rescued from a Sumatran rain forest about to be cut down. Sumatran rhinos are extremely endangered; fewer than 300 still exist. The humans who knew her remember her fondly: "Just a real sweet girl," commented one; "She liked a warm hose," said another. Rapunzel was so named because of her luxurious coat of hair. "The keepers would groom her, brush her hair," said Pat Thomas, the Bronx Zoo's curator of mammals.