Sonseeahray and Sven
Posted at 2:26 pm April 27, 2007 by Maureen O. Duryee
I know what you are thinking: what is a Sonseeahray?! It happens to be the name of a female pronghorn antelope that lives at the Hunte Amphitheater at the San Diego Zoo. Her name means “morning star” in Apache. She was named by our supervisor, Kathy Marmack, who had been saving this name throughout her career for just the right animal! This little critter was spotted in the back of a station wagon crossing the Oregon/Washington border and was confiscated, as these animals are endangered. She was transported to our Zoo’s hospital and introduced to Kathy in August 2006. An immediate connection was made between these two, and after her 30-day quarantine she was named and moved to our show area.
Pronghorn antelope are the only native antelope in North America. They are known for the ability to run very fast, up to 58 miles per hour (93 kilometers per hour), making them the fastest land mammals in North America. Keeping this fact in mind, we decided to halter train her and encourage her to walk on a lead rope. This was easy to do in the beginning, as she needed her bottle twice a day for the first few months. We introduced her to our blonde golden retriever, Mr. Sven Olof (see Maureen’s blog, Sven Olof, Conservation Star). Sven has many jobs at the San Diego Zoo: recycling in our shows; living and working with our cheetah, Karroo (see Maureen’s blog, Learning to Run like the Wind); working with our Arctic wolf (see Kenai on Vacation); our North American badger, our African serval brothers (see Watching Jabari Jump is a Joy), and visiting our employee lunchroom daily. Now added to his list is working with our young antelope, Sonseeahray.
What does Sven have to offer this species? Well, to start with, he is a calm, happy critter that is compliant on every level. He smiles with his tail whenever he is asked to do anything. Sven’s comfortable disposition is very magnetic and intrigues our young pronghorn to no end. She is curious about his wagging tail and investigates this phenomenon on a daily basis. Her intrigue with our dog is just the impetus needed for us to halter her and lead her to new areas around the compound with Sven leading the way. A match made in a zoo, yes!
Mr. Sven Olof’s popularity grows daily and lucky for us, he enjoys his charges. One can only hope that his enjoyment rubs off, not only on the animals he works with, but the people he crosses paths with. Sven and Sonseeahray aren’t ready to make their debut, but with a little help from his tail you might see that tale end in a show soon!
Maureen O. Duryee is an animal trainer at the San Diego Zoo’s Hunte Amphitheater.
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April 27th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Maureen, thanks so much for the blog on Sonseeahray and Sven. I have always loved seeing Svenny, especially when you are out walking him with Karroo or Kenai); can’t wait to see him with his new friend with the beautiful name! Sven always acts like he can’t wait to be petted, and I agree — that tail speaks worlds about his beautiful and friendly disposition.
April 27th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Ohhh…how adorable! Sven is such a good buddy to all wonderful critters, big or small – and he’s pretty wonderful himself! And little Sonseeahray (how do you pronounce the name?) sounds every bit like her namesake…bright and lovely.
April 28th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Thanks, Maureen for all the work you do with Sven, and sharing his adventures and activities with his friends. He is quite a talented and very valuable guy. He also has quite a diverse ” family” in his ‘neighborhood.” The families that get to see him in person with all his ‘charges’ are truely blessed to witness such a magnificent animal with an incredible personality and gently nature. The animals with whom he works are also blessed to have such a gentle caring creature work with them. And the humans he works with are blessed to get to know such a noble ” spirit” and to learn so much about the natural instincts and thought process and behaviors of such a wonderful mixture of species.
I am excited to hear more tales about Mr Sven Olaf and his friends, but especially about Sonseeahray.
May 3rd, 2007 at 5:23 am
Thanks, Maureen for all the work you do with Sven, and sharing his adventures and activities with his friends. He is quite a talented and very valuable guy. He also has quite a diverse ” family†in his “neighborhood.†The families that get to see him in person with all his “charges’ are truely blessed to witness such a magnificent animal with an incredible personality and gently nature. The animals with whom he works are also blessed to have such a gentle caring creature work with them. And the humans he works with are blessed to get to know such a noble ” spirit†and to learn so much about the natural instincts and thought process and behaviors of such a wonderful mixture of species.
I am excited to hear more tales about Mr Sven Olaf and his friends, but especially about Sonseeahray.
I agree with you, nice work!
Best Regards
May 11th, 2007 at 9:47 am
I just want to thank Kathy Marmack for naming that beautiful Pronghorn Sonseearhay. I have always loved that name since I was a yong girl and saw Broken Arrow. I’m so glad to see it go to such a beautiful ‘Spirit’. Please write occationally and let us know how she is doing.
Thank you,