Natural curls

I love the way Asters curl their petals when the flower is beginning to age. Noticed this one at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on 23 September 2010. I knew I had a photo or two of this flower "somewhere" and discovered it a while ago, when I was backing up a few more photo files from 2010.

It was a sad day yesterday at the Calgary Zoo. Foggy, a 47-year-old River Hippoptamus and the Zoo's oldest resident, had to be euthanized because of age-related problems. My condolences, especially to the Zoo staff.

"Foggy, the 47-year-old hippopotamus at the Calgary Zoo who got his name from his foghorn-like bellow, was euthanized today by zoo officials because of the animal’s declining health.

The hippo, which came to the zoo in 1965 after being born at the Houston Zoo, had been in deteriorating health for several years because of its advanced age, zoo officials said in a news release.

“Sadly, the time had come when there was nothing more we could do to mitigate his many age-related ailments and we felt that his quality of life was simply not acceptable anymore,” said Jamie Dorgan, area curator.

The hippo fathered seven offspring during its life with three different mates, including three with its enclosure mate Sparky. Foggy was the oldest animal at the zoo."

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