A friendly personality can be described as outgoing, accepting and demonstrating an interest in others. Cleveland Amory named a burro Friendly because she fit those characteristics perfectly. During The Fund for Animals’ 1979 Grand Canyon rescue of 577 burros, Friendly became Amory’s makeshift shadow following him throughout the corral. Today Friendly is alive and well at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, where she has resided for more than a quarter of a century. Here is the story of the remarkable burro who adopted Cleveland Amory, maintained an affectionate relationship with him throughout his lifetime, and helped shape The Fund for Animals’ future rescue efforts.
The Fund Airlifts the Burros to Safety
In 1979, Cleveland Amory and The Fund for Animals learned that the National Park Service planned to kill hundreds of burros then living in the Grand Canyon.
The burros, whose ancestors were castoffs from the gold rush era, grazed the canyon and lived as wild equines on public lands. Private cattle and sheep ranchers had long resented their presence, claiming the animals were eating food meant for their livestock. Armed with this anti-burro and pro-ranching ideology and a report from a wildlife biologist who recommended their extermination, the Park Service declared war on the burros. After unsuccessful attempts to run the burros off the trails, the next idea was to shoot the animals from a small aircraft. Amory realized that this would involve widespread wounding and suffering to a large number of burros, while the number of painless deaths would likely be few.
However, The Humane Society of the United States brought a lawsuit against the National Park Service to prevent the killing. Though there was little hope of winning, The Fund figured that the burros would be safe during the lawsuit proceedings, and there would be more time to devise a rescue plan. Amory began to look for a way and a place to save the burros.
And so it came to be that The Fund made a first payment on what would become Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison, Texas, as a home for the burros. The plan was that if the lawsuit was lost, an attempt would be made to rescue the burros, and bring them to the ranch for safety. And that’s exactly what happened.
The lawsuit lost, all efforts were then dedicated to figuring out how to rescue the burros from the depths of the Grand Canyon. The Park Service pointed out that no other group had been successful in removing the burros, but gave The Fund 30 days to try to rescue 30 burros. Amory personally interviewed and hired helicopter pilots and expert ropers and devised a plan to airlift the captured burros out of the 7,000-foot canyon. The rescue began on August 9, 1979, meeting with many obstacles, not the least of which was the Park rescinding its agreement.
The first day did not begin well, as at the last minute, the Park Service prevented the rescuers from using a wide, tourist road and instead forced horses, mules and riders down a narrow path which, at some points, went almost straight down. Horses slipped and bumped into other horses who also slipped, making it a treacherous journey, but fortunately all the people and animals remained safe.
The second day went much better. Working in early morning and late afternoon to avoid the 120 degree heat, the team used expert care and humane handling to rope, tie, place into slings and lift with a helicopter 27 burros from the canyon’s valley. At the top of the canyon were temporary corrals. The 30 burro quota in 30 days became an easily attained achievement, but Amory’s Fund would not rest until every single burro was rescued.
Hundreds of people began to gather around and watch the airlift. The helicopter pilot gently maneuvered the machine to let each burro down on his or her back in the net, and then immediately, another crew of workers would rush over, untie the sling and throw it back into the helicopter so it was ready for the next rescue. Another team, which included a veterinarian and veterinary students from University of California at Davis, would examine each animal, untie his or her legs, and release the burro to roam freely within the corral atop the canyon.
The entire rescue ended up being a two-year operation, during which no animal or person was injured. In the end the last of 577 burros were carefully airlifted out of the Grand Canyon.
A Burro Named Friendly
Of all the burros The Fund and Amory rescued, there was one clear favorite. She was the one that did not trot away from her rescuers but stood her ground and eventually even came closer.
“Friendly had come up in a sling in the very first batch of burros, and I was in the corral when she was lifted up over the rim and delicately dropped to the ground,” Amory writes in his last book, Ranch of Dreams. “I was one of the crew who untied her.…She must have thought…we all were [crazy.] But she also realized, I felt then and still feel, that no one had really hurt her, and therefore we were not all bad.” In spite of the chaos of whirring helicopters, being roped and tied up, and finally lifted 7,000 feet out of the canyon, Friendly seemed to have a perspective the other burros did not.
One evening Amory went to the corral to look for Friendly, who would typically approach him immediately. “I kept walking up to burro after burro [but] I could not find her,” he writes. He heard the cowboys, who were sitting on the corral fence, laughing at him, and when he turned around there was Friendly. She had been following him so closely he couldn’t see her.
Friendly was one of the first burros to reach Black Beauty Ranch. Pregnant at the time of her rescue from the Grand Canyon, she gave birth to a foal some months after arrival at the ranch. The foal, Friendly Two, was introduced to Amory by Friendly herself. Her usual greeting to Amory was to shove her head into his stomach. This time, she brought her baby over to Amory and instead shoved the baby into Amory, who proceeded to hug and talk to Friendly Two. Then, Friendly shoved the baby out of the way and inserted her own head back into Amory’s stomach; she obviously still wanted most of his affections for herself.
Friendly is Still Home on the Ranch
Today, Friendly, who is approximately thirty years old, is in her senior years and has lost some teeth. She receives tender loving attention from staff members, a special diet for senior equines, and regular farrier care. Each spring, she gets a haircut to help her keep cool. She has two favorite burro companions and also interacts with other animals on the ranch, including Babe, the rescued African elephant, and Abigail, the rescued pot-bellied pig.
Friendly is good company any day, and when someone she knows sits near her, she will approach and stand close by. She may nudge you in the stomach, which we think means, “Pet me!” If you put your head to hers, she will stand for a long time just touching heads with you, sometimes closing her eyes. She seems to appreciate this kind of exchange, simply sharing the same space, experiencing each other’s breathing. While no one can take Amory’s place in Friendly’s life, the current ranch staff certainly enjoys visiting with her every day.
Friendly’s presence is a constant reminder of the miraculous beginning of the ranch. While there was a second large burro rescue a few years later by The Fund from the Death Valley National Monument as well as countless rescues of other species over the decades, the history for the ranch began with that initial Grand Canyon airlift—and with Friendly. Friendly’s slow and purposeful stroll, her distinctive bray to her compatriots, and her gentle manner continues to inspire all those fortunate enough to know her. Her silhouette is unmistakable against the evening sunset of East Texas, and each morning, we are happy to see her once again.
posted September 26, 2006
