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November 15, 2009

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Elephant trainer departs after elephants are gone

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 11:40 a.m.

Don Boomer and his wife are heading for Seattle and a job at the Wildland Park Zoo.

For the past 15 years, the couple has lived in a small apartment above the elephant barn in the parking lot at the Nugget, where Boomer trained Bertha and Angel.

Bertha was 48 and died of age in November. Eleven-year-old Angel moved to a zoo in Fort Worth, Texas, in December.

The Boomers traveled to Fort Worth last month and say Angel is doing fine. The zoo has six Asian elephants, including Angel.

Don Bloomer will have four new elephants to care for in Seattle. Sherri Bloomer, a molecular biologist, is job hunting.

Unlike in Sparks, he will work regular hours and have two days off each week. At the Nugget, the elephants performed six nights a week.

"Of course, even on my day off, I would be the one to give them their last feeding of the day, their last medication and I'd tuck them into bed," Don Bloomer said.

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