In 1964, 17 muskox calves were transferred from east Greenland to west Greenland via Copenhagen zoo. One of them was Willi.
Willi got used to people at the zoo, and came to like people more than his fellow muskoxes. One day he decided to stay at the airport, and he became very popular with everyone there – except for the pilots of course.
They tried to scare him away from the airpost, but one American soldier had to be sent to hospital and the airport fire engine got some heavy dents on the car.
Dogs were brought in from Denmark, but they were too scared of the huge animal. Finally an American cowboy from the US Army caught Willi with lasso and transported him to Lake Ferguson, 5km away.
He is still there, at Lake Ferguson – but in stone. Unfortunately his ending was sad, because he returned to the airport, and there he attacked a transit passenger and her little child. By that incident, he signed his own death sentence.
He will be forever remembered though, as a much loved citizen. A country- and western singer, Al Perry, even wrote a ballad about him.
Hmm, wild animals need to be wild
They do.
Well, allow me to be sorry for Willy ‘after the event’ – how was the poor boy supposed to know how to behave? Interesting true life story . . . ________________________________
Thanks for this interesting story. Sad that Willi had to be put down.
Yes, but that is the danger when we let wild animals be too used to humans.
What an interesting story, but with a rather sad postscript.
Sad, yes, and we are the cause of it. Wild animals should not be that close to humans.
Quite.
Interesting story Ann-Christine.
I think it says a lot about their mentality too.