User:IllaZilla/King Tut (cockatoo)

King Tut was a salmon-crested cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis) that lived at the San Diego Zoo from 1925 to 1990 and served as the zoo's "official greeter" for 40 years. During its lifetime the bird made appearances in theater, television, and motion pictures, and was introduced to several political figures who visited the zoo. King Tut was thought to be the oldest bird at the zoo at the time of his death in 1990 at the estimated age of 67.

Collection

The male cockatoo was imported from the Maluku Islands by animal collector Frank Buck, who brought it to San Diego on May 25, 1925. Buck had previously served as director of the San Diego Zoo in 1923, but was fired after three months by Harry M. Wegeforth, president of the Zoological Society of San Diego, due to disagreements between the two over the running of the zoo. The bird was sold to La Mesa, California residents Ira D. Putnam and her husband, who were bird collectors and who decided to share it with the San Diego Zoo. It was given the name "King Tut" because its arrival came just a few years after the discovery of the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, colloquially referred to as King Tut. Because the cockatoo was wild-caught, its exact age was unknown, though it was estimated to have been at least two years old at the time of capture, already an adult.

Show business

In his first few years in San Diego, King Tut learned a variety of trained behaviors including singing, whistling, and talking, and performed at the zoo and other venues. This led to roles in show business; the bird appeared in several films, television shows, and theatrical productions over the next few decades, including a role in in dancer Sally Rand's fan dancing act. Ira Putnam permanently donated King Tut to the San Diego Zoo on February 19, 1951. He continued to make media appearances into the 1950s, including an early episode of The Mickey Mouse Club.

"Official greeter" of the San Diego Zoo

Eventually the cockatoo settled into the role of "official greeter" for the zoo: Placed each day on an open perch beneath a ficus tree next to the flamingo pond, located just inside the zoo's entrance, King Tut would welcome visitors with a variety of vocal and physical displays including whistling; imitating crying babies, meowing cats, clucking chickens, and other bird species; puffing out his feathers; "dancing"; and making a loud, shrieking cackle. According to a zoo spokesman in 1990, King Tut "would swing his head from side to side and cackle and fluff out his feathers and people were just drawn to him. Every tour bus went by and saluted King Tut. There is no single animal in the zoo who has ever had as much affection." At night he was placed in a warm back room inside the zoo's bird yard. After having been brought out to interact with visitors, when placed back on his perch the bird "would scream and scream and scream, trying to get the keepers or people to come back and pet him some more. He was a real character. He imitated every bird in the bird yard. He had a [repertoire] of bird calls that was amazing."

In his capacity as official greeter, King Tut was introduced to visiting United States Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and Japanese emperor Hirohito. He continued to make occasional show business appearances over the next several decades, including on the television show Zoorama (which was filmed at the San Diego Zoo) and small roles in productions at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre and Starlight Opera, and was featured in several documentaries about the zoo.

Later years and retirement

By 1983 King Tut was showing signs of old age, including a cataract in one eye and feathers that did not grow in properly. By the end of the decade he was affected by several ailments including laryngitis, bouts of arthritis, and blindness caused by cataracts in both eyes. As his arthritis progressed, keepers would only bring the cockatoo out on warm, dry days, and because of his blindness he would sometimes be knocked off his perch by peafowl and other free-ranging birds in the zoo. Zookeepers prepared him a special diet of cooked sweet potatoes and carrots, soft fruit, and peanuts. He also had his own personal jar of peanut butter, "It had to be creamy, not crunchy", said a zoo spokesperson. "He had to have his creamy peanut butter. He even preferred a specific brand—Skippy." In June 1989 the zoo staff decided to retire King Tut, who was by then believed to be at least 66 years old, the species estimated to have a maximum lifespan in the 70s. The week of June 9–16 was declared "King Tut Appreciation Days" at the zoo. Jerry Gallenberger, who was King Tut's keeper for almost twenty years, presented the bird to the public twice a day during this week, his final appearance culminating with the presentation of a pound cake as a tribute to the cockatoo's decades of service as the zoo's greeter. A "retirement party" for King Tut was then held, doubling as a black tie fundraiser for the zoo.

Post-retirement, King Tut became an ambassador animal for the zoo's education department, making appearances for tours, school and adult programs, and promotional events. Zookeepers tried to install another salmon-crested cockatoo as official greeter, a five year-old male named Teddy that was donated by a private bird keeper, but it proved too friendly, repeatedly flying off its perch to land on visitors' shoulders. The staff eventually settled on rotating three blue-and-yellow macaws at King Tut's perch.

Death and legacy

Plaque beneath the statue

King Tut died December 30, 1990. The bird had made an appearance for a tour that morning and been petted by 20–30 people, but at approximately noon keepers heard odd squawking noises from the zoo's bird yard and found King Tut fallen from his perch and floundering. "It happened suddenly", said a veterinarian. "There were no signs of ill health, no trauma. He was an old bird, but appeared normal up until his fall." Veterinarians tried to revive the cockatoo with supplemental oxygen and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but were unsuccessful. The cause of death appeared to be heart and liver failure; a necropsy revealed heart damage as well as a large liver cyst that may have been caused by cirrhosis or a tumor. King Tut was estimated to have been at least 67 years old, the oldest bird at the San Diego Zoo. His death was reported by the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press, and the news reached across the country, appearing in the The Washington Post, Kansas' Lawrence Journal-World, Florida's Orlando Sentinel, and Maine's Bangor Daily News.

King Tut was memorialized in a bronze statue in his likeness at the San Diego Zoo, which stands at the same spot where his perch was once located, next to the flamingo pond. As part of the zoo's centennial celebration in 2016, King Tut was recognized in their "100 Animals" series profiling notable animals from the zoo's history.