Plus: One of Amazon’s self-driving cars struck a vehicle, and the vast majority of San Francisco families now qualify for free or discounted child care.
Few people, let alone animals, could draw an afterlife fanfare comparable to Claude, SF’s unofficial mascot of the California Academy of Sciences. The albino alligator, which died of an undiagnosed liver cancer in September, called the San Francisco science center home for over 17 years; Claude came to Cal Academy already a teenager, assumed to be at least 13 years old. And in that time, the thirtysomething reptile became nothing short of an iconoclast.
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Claude’s impact and reach were tangible this weekend when thousands descended onto Golden Gate Park to celebrate the life and legacy of the rare reptile — life-sized sourdough bread replica and all.
Bart Shepherd, the Senior Director of Cal Academy’s Steinhart Aquarium, was in attendance and renounced one of the many antics Claude got himself during his years on exhibit: consuming a little girl’s ballet shoe that was tossed into his enclosure.
“It’s no small feat to get a shoe out of an alligator,” Shepherd told Claude’s fans who gathered Sunday inside Golden Gate Park to celebrate his life, the BBC reported. Thankfully, with a hefty dose of anesthesia and precise veterinary surgery, the dance slipper was successfully removed, and Claude, whose poor eyesight and garbage disposal-like hunger led to his swallowing of the shoe, continued swimming about his enclosure unaffected for years afterward.
It’s estimated millions laid eyes on Claude during his time at Cal Academy, making him undoubtedly one of the nation’s most important animal ambassadors for American Alligators; again, we’d argue no other crocodile in existence could summon the likes of drag queens, a New Orleans-style brass band, and droves of doting fans, many of whom donned regalia and signage in honor of the deceased reptile after their passing.
Lana Krol, a senior veterinarian at the academy, has noted in past interviews that Claude was incredibly calm for a crocodilian — “[he was] the most laidback of [all the alligators I’ve worked with]”.
“I can say with confidence that I won’t meet another gator like Claude in my lifetime. I’ll miss him terribly,” Krol concluded. For the thousands in attendance Sunday inside San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, we suspect the feeling was shared.
What else transpired over the weekend? Let’s take a look.
- A car crashed into an occupied Bernal Heights church. Seven people were injured — three of whom were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries — after a rogue vehicle crashed into the Good Hope Baptist Church at 551 Nevada Street Sunday afternoon, and, despite the crash, the religious center suffered no structural damage. More info.
- Most San Francisco families will qualify for free childcare services. In a surprisingly socialist move from SF’s otherwise pro-capital mayor, Lurie announced both free child care services for families making less than $230,000 and 50% subsidies for families making less than $310,000; collectively, these two income brackets make up over two-thirds of San Francisco families. More info.
- Zoox’s recent faux pas is turning into a he-said, she-said kinda story. After Mission Local broke the news that one of Zoox’s self-driving, glorified air fryers swiped a local’s car, the Amazon-owned robo taxi company is now turning on the defense, saying its car was trying to avoid the driver opening his car door, but couldn’t in time. More info.
Feature image: Courtesy of Heidi Alletzhauser via California Academy of Sciences Press Office
