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
Queenie was born
wild
Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to:
Common meanings
* Wild animal
* Wilderness, a wild natural environment
* Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed
Art, media and entertainment Film and television
* ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...
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 Elisabeth (Liz) Green. 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
Fairlee is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 988 at the 2020 census. It includes the village of Ely. Fairlee is home to Lake Morey, which claims to have the longest ice skating trail in the United States.
Histor ...
.
Career
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.
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."
In 1965, she appeared in a series of print advertisement for the
Mercury outboard motors company.
She also appeared on
The Tonight Show and on
I've Got a Secret.
In 1967 Queenie was sold to an "elephant performance team" in Michigan. In 1981 she was sold to Circus Gatti.
Pittsburgh Incident
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.
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 Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...
." 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."
Later years
Queenie was retired from the Circus Gatti in 2003 and sent to the
Wild Adventures theme park in
Valdosta, Georgia.
In 2011, she was
euthanized
Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...
because of chronic health problems.
According to an obituary in the UK's ''
The Guardian'', "she was believed to be one of the oldest Asian elephants in North America."
See also
*
Captive elephants
Elephants can be found in various captive facilities such as a zoo, sanctuary, circus, or camp, usually under veterinary supervision. They can be used for educational, entertainment, or work purposes.
The earliest evidence of captive elephants d ...
*
Elephant cognition
*
List of individual elephants
*
Twiggy the Water-Skiing Squirrel Twiggy the Water-Skiing Squirrel is an animal novelty act, featuring a squirrel who skis around a heated pool. The act began in 1979 by Chuck and Lou Ann Best and started with an appearance on ''Real People''. It has been featured on numerous televi ...
External links
*
References
{{Reflist, 1, refs=
[{{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 ]
[{{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
The ''Record-Journal'' is an American daily newspaper based in Meriden, Connecticut, that dates back to the years immediately following the American Civil War. It is owned by the Record-Journal Publishing Company, a family-owned business enti ...
, publisher = Newspaper Enterprise Association
[{{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
The ''Reading Eagle'' is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania. A family-owned newspaper until the spring of 2019, its reported circulation is 37,000 (daily) and 50,000 (Sundays). It serves the Reading and Berks County region of Pe ...
[{{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
]
[{{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
]
[{{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
]
[{{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)
]
[{{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
]
[{{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
]
[{{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
]
[{{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
]
[{{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
]
[{{cite news
, url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-elephant-death-idUSTRE7526G920110603
, title = Water-skiing Asian elephant dies in Georgia at 58
, author = Beasley, David
, date = June 3, 2011
, publisher = Reuters
]
[{{cite news
, url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/03/queenie-water-skiing-elephant-dies
, title = Queenie, the waterskiing elephant, dies
, author = Batty, David
, date = June 3, 2011
, work = The Guardian
]
[{{cite news
, url = https://www.theguardian.com/p/2pge5/tf
, title = Queenie, the waterskiing elephant, dies
, author = Staff
, date = June 3, 2011
, work = The Guardian
]
[{{cite news
, url = http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1sjbb/NCN61011/resources/index.htm?
, title = Famous Elephant With Local Ties, Dies At Age 58
, author = Flagg, Bryan
, date = June 10, 2011
, work = Northcountry News (New Hampshire)
, page = A1, A3
]
2011 animal deaths
Animal deaths by euthanasia
Individual animals in the United States
Individual elephants
Waterskiing
Elephants in popular culture
Elephants in the United States