Barbara Bonner, turtle conservationist, dead at 46
Hyfler/Rosner
DATELINE: UPTON, Mass.
Barbara Brewster Bonner, a veterinarian and turtle conservationist who
founded the Turtle Hospital of New England Inc., died unexpectedly at her
home last week. She was 46.
A cause of her Aug. 1 death has not been determined, her husband, Michael
Penko, told The Boston Globe.
A private memorial service was held on Wednesday in Glastonbury, Conn.
In the last decade, Bonner had been instrumental in developing protocols to
save endangered species of turtles, and worked to bring attention to the
plight of Asian turtles.
"She was light years ahead of everyone else," said Al Weinberg of the
Allapattah Flats Turtle Preserve in Port Lucie, Fla. "She wanted the most
difficult cases. She wanted stuff no one else could fix and she never gave
up."
Bonner was born in Beirut and lived abroad until she was 10. Her family said
that from an early age, she proclaimed her intention to be a "frog doctor."
Bonner graduated from Williams College in 1980. She later entered a graduate
program in microbiology at the University of Massachusetts and in the early
1990s went on to the Tufts University veterinary school, where she
specialized in reptiles and amphibians.
About five years ago, the plight of Asian turtles attracted her attention
and she began breeding them at her home as part of her commitment to protect
them from extinction. It wasn't an unusual thing for Bonner to do, according
to her friend and fellow veterinarian Leslie Levine, who said when Bonner
learned an American species was endangered, she bought several hundred and
filled her house with them.
"She was the ark," Levine told the Globe. "She had a breeding stock to keep
the species alive."
Besides her husband, Bonner leaves her parents, Faye Hyson and Albert Bonner
of Potomac, Md.; three sisters, Constance Davis of Westminster, Md., Jocelyn
Foote of Adamstown, Md., and Suzanne Hoyt of Glastonbury, Conn.
Bob Flaminio
> Barbara Bonner, turtle conservationist, dead at 46
>
> founded the Turtle Hospital of New England Inc., died unexpectedly at
> her home last week. She was 46.
An autopsy revealed that she had fallen onto her back and no one was
around to turn her over. Sad, really.
--
Bob
Robert Feigel (aka Bob)
wrote:
Maybe she shoulda tried to get out more.
~~~~~~~~
"Sometime jewel found in ashes." - Charlie Chan
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Hyfler/Rosner
"Bob Flaminio" <b...@flaminio.com> wrote in message
news:bgum6f$sp2pc$1...@ID-40152.news.uni-berlin.de...
I have to say that when I posted this, what, ten minutes ago, I turned to
SO, and made him guess how long it would be before a pun thread started. He
was right on the money.
Frankly, I thought it would be here:
"She was light years ahead of everyone else," said Al Weinberg of the
Allapattah Flats Turtle Preserve in Port Lucie, Fla.
So much for fables.
Hyfler/Rosner
"Hyfler/Rosner" <rel...@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:bgulrb$oas$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
> Barbara Bonner, turtle conservationist, dead at 46
>
Boston Globe obit:
By Shari Rudavsky, Globe Correspondent
In March, a handful of endangered turtle species got a new lease on life.
Barbara Brewster Bonner, a specialist in turtle veterinary medicine, visited
a North Carolina turtle reserve and nursed some delicate individuals back to
health, allowing them to prosper and breed.
"I have four or five that are alive just from her passing through," said
David Lee, director of the Tortoise Reserve in White Lake, N.C. "There are
thousands and thousands of turtles out there that are going to outlive all
of us directly because of what she did."
Dr. Bonner, who founded and directed the Turtle Hospital of New England
Inc., died unexpectedly in her Upton home Friday at the age of 46. A cause
of death has not been determined, her husband, Michael Penko, said.
Over the past decade, Dr. Bonner has been instrumental in developing
protocols to save endangered species of turtles.
"She was light years ahead of everyone else," said Al Weinberg of the
Allapattah Flats Turtle Preserve in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and another
advocate for turtle conservation. "She wanted the most difficult cases. She
wanted stuff no one else could fix and she never gave up."
Dr. Bonner participated in two turtle rescue projects, helping not only to
save hundreds of the rare reptiles but also passing on her techniques to
others in the field. She and her colleagues struggled to bring attention to
the plight of Asian turtles, many species of which are teetering on the
brink of extinction.
In a 2000 article in National Wildlife magazine, Dr. Bonner characterized
the situation as "the greatest reptile crisis since the demise of the
dinosaur."
At an early age, Dr. Bonner, who was born in Beirut and lived abroad until
she was 10, proclaimed her intentions to be a "frog doctor," her family
said. But it was not until the early 1990s, while in veterinary school at
Tufts, that she realized a version of that dream, opening a sanctuary in her
home for injured turtles and those rescued from the pet trade.
About five years ago, the Asian turtle crisis attracted her attention and
she committed herself to helping these endangered species, breeding them out
of her home.
"Her goal was not to have any turtles go extinct in her lifetime," Lee said.
When Dr. Bonner learned that one American species of turtle was endangered,
she pooled as much money as she could to buy several hundred of these
animals, said her close friend and fellow conservationist Leslie Levine.
"She was the ark. She had a breeding stock to keep the species alive,"
Levine said.
As the hospital's turtle tally reached several hundred, Dr. Bonner filled
her house with them.
"Every conceivable nook and cranny has turtles in it," said Weinberg, who
visited her a week before she died. "The turtles own her home."
Dr. Bonner planned to move back to Western Massachusetts eventually, to
build a facility to house her collection. But she feared that some of the
species might go extinct before that dream became a reality, her husband
said.
Along with her husband and a small staff, Dr. Bonner tended the sick animals
faithfully. Many of them required tube feedings that entailed prying open
their jaws and squirting baby food laced with medications into their mouths.
Dr. Bonner never hesitated, even when dealing with an ill-tempered turtle
prone to biting. (She told National Wildlife she was glad when they bit her
because it meant they were feeling better. Nor did she reserve her efforts
for exotic species. When Levine's daughter's pet fell ill, she turned to Dr.
Bonner.
"She didn't differentiate between the critically endangered animals and the
common hatchling who wasn't going to make it but who my daughter was crying
her eyes out over," Levine said.
Even in veterinary school, Dr. Bonner stood out for her compassion for
animals. It's common practice for veterinary students to practice surgery on
animals and then euthanize them.
"Barbara's animals woke up," said Levine, also a vet. "There was no way she
would learn from an animal, get that gift, and then not give that animal a
good life."
After graduating from Williams College in 1980, Dr. Bonner worked as a
weaver, cardiac surgery technician, and in a dialysis treatment center.
During that time, she was hit by a drunken driver and was forced to undergo
several plastic surgeries.
Eventually she entered University of Massachusetts' graduate program in
microbiology, where she started studying which microorganisms live on
turtles, he said. That led her to veterinary school at Tufts, where she
focused on reptiles and amphibians.
Those in the field say none equaled her efforts. "Some of those turtles she
helped in March are laying eggs this summer," Lee said. "Her contribution
will go way into the future."
Besides her husband, she leaves her parents, Faye (Hyson) and Albert S.
Bonner Jr. of Potomac, Md.; three sisters, Constance Davis of Westminster,
Md., Jocelyn Foote of Adamstown, Md., and Suzanne Hoyt of Glastonbury, Conn.
A private memorial service was held yesterday in Glastonbury.
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
I knew a few gals like that, but they're still living. ;-)~
--
© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
Wouldn't it be a bitch if all of her pallbearers were rabbits? Just thinking
of all of those poor grieving turtles trying to keep up, it makes me wanna
cry.
--
© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»
Hoodude
wrote:
>> Barbara Brewster Bonner, a veterinarian and turtle conservationist who
>> founded the Turtle Hospital of New England Inc., died unexpectedly at
>> her home last week. She was 46.
>An autopsy revealed that she had fallen onto her back and no one was
>around to turn her over. Sad, really.
That's a (s)hell of a thing to say about a woman who cared so much
about nature.
matador
Don't mock. For a conservationist who
sticks her neck out, life *i* shell.
.
.
.
Mack Twamley
"matador" <mat...@art.line> wrote in message
news:3F355E58...@art.line...
Don't MOCK? Ooooooh!
Reminds me of the oldie about the three turtles sitting around and they
decide to have a pizza, so they draw straws to see who'll go get it.
(Ordering in had not yet come upon the scene.)
The loser took the money and started (slowly, as turtles are wont to do) out
the door. He disappeared and the other two waited and waited and waited and
finally one said "Gee, will that slowpoke EVER get our pizza?"
The pizza gofer stuck his head into the room and sulked "If you guys are
gonna talk about me behind my back, I ain't even gonna go!"