DUNGENESS — Ricky, an African rhinoceros that was one of the more exotic — and best-known — animals at Olympic Game Farm, has died.
Ricky, who lived at the farm most of his life, was 31 and died of natural causes, said farm President Bob Beebe.
“He was starting to get sick and elderly,” Beebe said, who announced with sadness the rhino’s death late last week after Ricky died Sept. 12.
“We tried to get him going again for the past six months.”
Beebe, who grew up with the rhino that his late grandfather and farm founder, Lloyd Beebe, acquired from a San Diego-area animal actor training farm, said he worked with a staff veterinarian with the San Diego Zoo as Ricky become more elderly.
He said the veterinarian said “it was pretty remarkable for him to get to the age of 31.”
Ricky was born in 1980 and has lived at Olympic Game Farm, 1423 Ward Road, since 1984.
“Ricky was one of our most treasured and revered animals here and was the only African white rhinoceros in the state of Washington,” Beebe said of the animal that weighed about 4,000 pounds.
“He was only 4 years old when they brought him up in the back of a trailer.
“People loved to look at him and see him. He was nice to have, but he didn’t do any special tricks.”
Perhaps the most challenging part of Ricky’s upkeep: He had to have his 4-foot horn trimmed twice in his life, a painless but necessary procedure, especially since the horn grew jutting forward somewhat parallel to the ground rather than upward.
Past Peninsula Daily News stories have described a procedure that involved darting Ricky with a tranquilizer so his horn could be trimmed about 3 feet using a chain saw.
The white rhino is the largest of all the rhinoceros species, according to the farm’s website, www.olygamefarm.com.
The species of rhinoceros may grow to be more than 10 feet in length and can weigh up to 3 tons.
The animal has a shoulder hump composed of muscle and skin tissue.
Rhinos have a penchant for wallowing in the mud.
“If the mud is gray, it dries on the animal’s skin, giving it a whitish appearance; consequently, the inappropriate word ‘white’ stuck,” the farm’s website says.
“The natural color of the animal is a dark slate-gray.”
Beebe said he hopes to find a new rhino to fill the void left with Ricky’s death.
“We’re in some talks with the San Diego Zoo,” Beebe said, adding that there was no commitment yet.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
