Obituary For A Buffalo

This is an old obituary from a 1905 issue of the NY Times. Jon found it doing some research for an article he's writing.

This is the 100th anniversary of the sad demise of Lady.

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LADY, THE BUFFALO, DEAD

Lady, the pet buffalo of the New York Zoological Garden in the Bronx, is dead. She was a fine seven-year-old animal and well behaved enough to deserve her name. An autopsy was made on her body yesterday, and it was found that a piece of wire which she must have swallowed had reached her heart, pierced it, and caused her death.

Lady was one of the famous herd of buffaloes assembled by the late William C. Whitney. The animal came to the zoo from the vast Whitney forest reservation in the Adirondacks some years ago.

She was seven years old and had quite a romantic history. She was the mate of Black Beauty, the king buffalo of the Bronx Park flock, who two years ago killed his [rival] after a violent domestic quarrel. Then he was mated to Lady. Her sweet disposition had such charms that Black Beauty has been a changed buffalo since Lady became his queen.

Acting Director H.R. Mitchell of the zoo said last night that the piece of wire found in Lady's heart, was of the kind tied about bales of hay and that she probably swallowed it with her dinner on Saturday. She was found dead that evening.

The old attendant at the buffalo reservation who knows best says Lady came to her death in trying to eat up a barbed wire fence that separated her from the inclosure where Black Beauty was browsing.