Packing his trunk

Before Spike leaves, Calgarians deserve a chance to say goodbye to him.

Oh, sure, Spike was never as high on the popularity list as Maharani, Swarna and Kamala, the three female elephants at the Calgary Zoo. Spike wasn’t into painting pictures like Kamala was. And he could be a bit curmudgeonly in his approach to life. But we love him anyway.

Spike — his real name is Ganesh — has been a fixture at the Calgary Zoo for two decades, but he is slated to move to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla. when summer ends. We knew this was coming, because the zoo has been looking for new homes for the elephants since April 2012, but it’s still sad to see the elephants leave. After all, the 31-year-old Spike came to Calgary as a relative youngster of 11. The Calgary Zoo just isn’t big enough for a proper elephant herd.

Spike came to Calgary in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew damaged the Miami Zoo, where he was living. Now, with his current place of residence damaged by the June flood, Spike is off back to Florida.

However, with the Calgary Zoo scheduled for a partial reopening on July 31, it would be wonderful if zoo officials could find a way to let Calgarians stop by to bid Spike a fond farewell and wish him all the best in his new home at Busch Gardens.

An elephant may never forget, and Calgarians will never forget this elephant.