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On Super Bowl Sunday in 1984, the Los Angeles Raiders were the champs and Marcus Allen was Most Valuable Player. Farther south, another champ was born that same day: a pygmy hippo, and the Zoo's star of the day was named Marcus Allen after the Super Bowl MVP. As it turned out, the little hippo had the same perseverance as the running back—for some reason, he was determined to climb out of the pool in the moated hippo enclosure, despite his mother's objections. But all he ended up with were abrasions on his tender back feet that required treatment. So, he was taken to the Children's Zoo to be taken care of, where he was fed, played with, and made much of. When the Children's Zoo attendants donned their rubber boots, he'd charge them, and he liked nothing more than when his surrogate moms, like Judy Fink, seen here, got right in the pool to splash with him.
Sasha the clouded leopard was the happy result of difficult circumstances. Clouded leopards are a difficult species to manage, since they tend to be aggressive to one another, sometimes without warning, even during breeding. Sasha's parents had come to the Zoo in 1983 as a compatible pair, but unfortunately her mother accidentally came into contact with a strange male in the enclosure, and before keepers could separate them, the male had seriously injured her front leg. She developed a severe infection, which required an extensive surgery to amputate the leg to save her life, performed by Zoo veterinarian Dr. Phillip Ensley, veterinary intern Dr. Billy Karesh, and Dr. David Subin, a San Diego orthopedic surgeon, who came to the Zoo to help. After two months of intensive care, the female cat recovered, and learned to get around on three legs, as well, a huge accomplishment for all concerned. She was carefully reintroduced to her mate, which went well. Then came the best news of all: Sasha, born on April 25, 1984. The healthy, playful little cat may have been oblivious of the effort and teamwork it took to make it possible for her to be born, but the humans involved knew how important it was for this endangered species.

1984

Conservation 1977 - 1986
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