SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. — The dreary weather Friday echoed the mood at the Lehigh Valley Zoo, where keepers and zoo administrators mourned the death of Big Boy, a 20-year-old American bison.
"Animals are a part of our family, so anytime one passes, whether you can prepare yourself for it or not, it's incredibly sad," Zoo Chief Operating Officer Matt Provence said.
"He was a staple."
"He lived a good life."Zoo Chief Operating Officer Matt Provence
Provence said he could not comment on the cause of Big Boy's death, but said domesticated bison can live for up to 25 years in zoological settings.
"He lived a good life," he said.
Big Boy wasn't just a playful moniker: The bison was huge.
In his younger years, caretakers said, he darted about the preserve lands, tossing tree limbs and tires aside using the power of his massive horns.
As he matured, he slowed down a bit, grazing peacefully or tending to the 12 calves he fathered.
As head of the herd, he contributed greatly to the preservation of the bison population at the zoo, which has been on the rebound in North America since nearly becoming extinct.
The rebound of the American bison is among the first examples of North American conservation success.
Because of factors such as overhunting, habitat destruction and efforts to push indigenous people off of their lands, the bison population hit an all-time low of 325 before beginning to rebound at the turn of the 20th century.
Now, the population has boomed to 625,000, including in nature preserves and protected lands.
Big Boy did his part.
Frolicking, tossing tires, chasing tractors
Provence said the most difficult part of Big Boy's passing is how it affects those who were closest to him.
"There are caretakers who have looked after him for as long as Big Boy has been alive," Provence said. "So we have to be really sensitive to how they must be feeling."
"So it's been tough to work through it."Sara Koplish, the Lehigh Valley Zoo's general curator
One of those people is Sara Koplish, the zoo's general curator.
Speaking from her office on the zoo's grounds, Koplish said she and her team are upset, but acknowledge there are "also many other animals that are looking to us for care."
"So it's been tough to work through it," she said.
However, she said she has many memories to carry her and her team through, including one where, during a routine visit to the pasture, he began playfully chasing the tractor that Koplish was driving.
"It was so cute," she recalled.
Koplish said she hopes the next time you find yourself at the Trexler Nature Preserve, watching as the majestic creatures graze and roam, folks consider the incredible story of the U.S. national mammal.
Plucked from the brink of extinction, she said, Big Boy is an example of how resilient wildlife can be.
