Anchorage Daily News

Head trauma probably killed Knobby the camel, Alaska Zoo officials say.

With all eyes on Maggie the elephant, Knobby's death last month attracted little notice. But how he hurt his head badly enough to kill him is still a mystery. Did he bang into something? Did someone hit him? Did the zoo's other camel bean him?

The zoo refused to make public a copy of the report on Knobby's death, and zoo spokeswoman Eileen Floyd said that "we'll never know" what happened.

"One could only speculate," she said, "and I'm not going to speculate."

Knobby came from Minnesota. He was a 1-year-old, two-humped Bactrian camel brought to Alaska as a companion and a potential mate for an older female named Tula.

Zoo director Pat Lampi said that on the morning of May 10, an employee fed and walked Knobby. He seemed fine.

About an hour later, a visitor found the animal dead.

A necropsy narrowed the probable cause of death to head trauma, Floyd said.

Asked if Knobby's injury could have been a result of abuse or an injury from a visitor, Lampi said no.

"He is 500 pounds, so I just can't believe anybody would approach him," Lampi said.

Knobby was too young to rut, and there were no other males around to bang into.

"Everybody would like definite answers, but there aren't any," said the zoo director.

Knobby was a newcomer to the Alaska Zoo and had only been out of quarantine for about a month, Lampi said.

They plan to replace him with another camel from Minnesota.

Sue Gergen is a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Zoo, which has been successful in breeding Bactrian camels. She said head trauma is not a common cause of death for camels but isn't unheard-of among hoofed animals, especially young ones that can hurt themselves when spooked.

"There's always a risk every time you introduce a new camel, or a new animal, into a new herd," Gergen said.

She said the Minnesota Zoo sent Knobby to Alaska by Fed?Ex. An employee rode along with him, and the camel appeared fine when he arrived.

"We did our part to get them a healthy animal," she said.

The Alaska Zoo will probably only have to pay shipping costs to bring up a camel to replace Knobby, both zoos said. Gergen said those costs will be expensive enough.

The Minnesota Zoo has several female camel calves, with another calf due soon. The Alaska Zoo is hoping to get another male.

Knobby was paid for at least in part with donations from Mary Segelhorst, a longtime zoo benefactor. "Knobby" was the nickname of her late husband, N.E. Segelhorst, who once bought the zoo a camel as a gift to his wife.

Find Kyle Hopkins' political blog online at adn.com/alaskapolitics or call him at 257-4334.