Maryland Zoo Mourns 'Bloke' The Laughing Kookaburra
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- When your lose a pet, it's like losing a member of the family. That's the feeling at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.
Ron Matz explains the loss of a most beloved animal that touched the lives of thousands of people.
His name was Bloke, the laughing kookaburra. For 17 years, he was one of the Maryland Zoo's most popular animals. But this week, Bloke died peacefully of old age.
"We were very lucky it was quick. There were no health issues at all. He was elderly by any standards. He was bright as the first day I met him. I scratched him on the head when I left him on Tuesday and that was it. He was special from day one," said animal collection specialist Amy Eveleth.
There's great sadness at the zoo. Eveleth spent thousands of hours at Bloke's side.
"I'm really going to miss him. Every morning when I would come in he would hear the alarm on my car go off and he would call and I would say 'Hello, Bloke.' And every day when I left I would tell him goodbye," she said.
You saw Bloke often in a WJZ promo. He was a bird for all seasons.
"In 1997 he became an animal ambassador. He went out in the Zoomobile a lot to schools and senior centers. And he really was one of the loudest and one of our most popular ambassadors. He was a famous personality. He couldn't speak, bu everyone knows his voice. I miss him very much," said Eveleth.
The Zoomobile took Bloke to schools, camps and senior centers. He made thousands of appearances. In Baltimore and beyond, Bloke was a rock star.
"He was one of our most high profile animals. When you think of the zoo, you think of penguins, polar bears and elephants. But when you think of the Zoomobile and the animals I used for media, it was Bloke. He was amazing. We were very lucky have have him as long as we did," said Eveleth.
Bloke would have been 24 years old in June. He was one of the oldest kookaburras in North America.
"He was 23 years old. He would have been 24 in June. It's a testament to our veterinary staff and our keeper staff. He outlived any other kookaburra in the country. Typically, they live 15 to 17 years, so he well went over his life expectancy," Eveleth said.
