| Minazo | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Minazo |
|
Born |
1993 (approximation) |
|
Died |
October 4, 2005 |
Origin[]
Minazo was a male southern elephant seal that was kept at the Enoshima Aquarium and the Shin-Enoshima Aquarium in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Minazo was captured as a cub, estimated to be one year old, on Lobo Island in Uruguay in the latter half of 1994 ,and was put on display at the Sea Zoo of what was then Enoshima Aquarium on March 11 , 1995. Its name was chosen from a public contest that drew about 1,500 responses. By 1998 , it had weighed over 1,000 kilograms, and despite its large size, it had a charming face, and was popular for its charming and comical gestures, such as holding a bucket with its front paws, making a "sticking tongue out," "rolling in nori," and "arching in a shrimp position," as well as holding a bucket of food with its front paws. It was an idol and symbol of the aquarium, and was used on information boards and merchandise.
In 1995 , there were only two facilities in Japan that kept southern elephant seals: Enoshima Aquarium and Futami Sea Paradise (now Ise Meoto Iwa Fureai Aquarium Sea Paradise ). Futami's male , Genki , died in August 1999 , leaving it as the only male southern elephant seal in the country. Kamogawa Sea World kept the only northern elephant seal in Japan until around December 1999 ( this seal was kept as a rescued wild seal, so the breeding conditions are slightly different from other elephant seals ) , but this was the last time they were kept in Japan.
In March 2002 , the Sea Zoo was closed first, and Minazo was moved to Marineland. At that time, he was kept in a pool that was simply remodeled from the cramped Finless Porpoise Crystal Pool (the Finless Porpoise had already died, and it was used to keep Pacific white-sided dolphins) by enclosing part of the passageway. After Marineland closed in September 2002 , Minazo was kept in the same facility for about a year. Due to the progress of the construction of the new Enoshima Aquarium, during the day on September 3, 2003, the cage containing Minazo was lifted by a large crane and loaded onto a special large trailer of Nippon Express , which is used for land transportation such as railroad cars, and transported at an extremely slow speed of less than 10 km per hour to the new building, 150 meters away, and the work of lowering the cage into its new home by crane took about six hours. This was covered by television information programs ( such as The Wide ) and newspaper reports. Although Minazo was out of the public eye for over a year and a half between the closure of Marineland and the opening of the new Enoshima Aquarium, information about Minazo's condition was occasionally posted on the Enoshima Aquarium's official website.
A large pool was allocated to Minazo, who had become the representative creature of the Enoshima Aquarium in its final days, and after the aquarium opened in April 2004, visitors could see Minazo up close, living leisurely with two spotted seals . In addition , the large southern elephant seal's facial expression was somewhat similar to that of Bob Sapp , a fighter who was very popular at the time, and this drew attention.
On Valentine 's Day in February 2005 , the only female southern elephant seals in Japan, mother and daughter Maruko and Yumemiko (who passed away in 2009) of Futami Sea Paradise , sent him a photo of themselves posing with their tongues out in a "thumbs up" pose, and on White Day the following month, Minazo sent him a photo of themselves posing with a bucket in their hands, which served as a reply.
He suddenly fell ill in the evening of October 3rd 2005, and stopped eating the next morning on October 4th . As a result, the feeding program was stopped, and just before closing time that day, when they began draining the pool for an examination, he suddenly passed away at 5:15pm . He was estimated to be 11 years old (equivalent to a human in his 30s), with a body length of about 4.5m and a weight of about 2175kg.
The body was transported to the nearby Nihon University College of Veterinary Medicine (in Fujisawa City), where an autopsy revealed that the cause of death was respiratory failure due to emphysema . It has since been exhibited as a skeletal specimen at the Nihon University College of Veterinary Medicine Museum ( nearest station is Rokukai-Nihon-Daimae Station ) on the campus of the college .
Minazo's death was widely reported in the media from October 5, 2005 onwards , and a floral tribute was set up. Local children sent bouquets of flowers, folded paper cranes and letters. A farewell party was held on the 7th
Notes[]
- As a real-life Elephant Seal, Minazo is not subject to copyright.
- Lolrus is the nickname given to the subject of two image macros featuring Minazo with a blue bucket. The photographs spawned a series of other image macros featuring pinnipeds and other animals referencing buckets.