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Tonka – the beloved camel who lived at Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna for the last decade – died last week after a long struggle with a bacterial infection.

“With a very heavy heart, we regret to say that we have lost Tonka, our amazing sanctuary animal, the camel,” Miranda’s Rescue posted on its Facebook page last week. “Unfortunately, he had some sort of bacterial infection that took him fast and there was nothing we could do to save him. He was an icon to the ranch and loved by so many.” 

Reached by the Outpost on Wednesday afternoon, the rescue shelter’s founder Shannon Miranda said that he doesn’t know the name of the bacteria that ultimately killed Tonka, but that the camel had been born with the issue and there wasn’t a cure.

Though he usually seemed healthy, Tonka would occasionally have flare-ups from the infection, which would cause him to have terrible diarrhea. Miranda had to regularly give Tonka an oral medication, which would clear up the issue and everything would be fine again. But this time, Miranda said, the flare up just got so bad, Tonka was beyond the point of treatment and had to be euthanized. The vet had warned Miranda that Tonka’s infection would eventually get worse, so he knew this moment would come. But Miranda said he was still not expecting to lose the animal so soon. 

Tonka had come to Miranda’s rescue when he was just one year old and had lived on the ranch until the day he passed at age 11. Originally a petting zoo animal, Tonka was brought to the shelter when his previous owner, Jenna Kilby, was no longer able to care for him. Though Kilby couldn’t keep Tonka with her, she maintained a close relationship with the camel, coming to visit him at the shelter all the time, Miranda said. 

Miranda also had a very special bond with Tonka, he said, and was really the only one at the shelter who was able to handle him. Though camels are great animals, Miranda said, they can also be a bit ornery and usually require a lot of training to be able to be handled by humans. Miranda tried to train Tonka, but said that with all the other animals at the shelter, it was difficult to provide Tonka with the amount of training he needed. 

Tonka with his best buddy, Blossom

Though Tonka was not a fully trained camel and wouldn’t let just anyone into his enclosure, he was very friendly with people who just wanted to visit him from outside of the fence. He was very popular with visitors at the ranch, Miranda said, and was happy to get pets and treats, especially bread, carrots and apples. 

Aside from Miranda and Kilby, Tonka had also developed a special relationship with his best friend, a miniature donkey named Blossom. Tonka and Blossom would run around together and whenever Miranda had to groom Tonka or give him medical care, Blossom had to be there to help Tonka stay calm. 

“Every time [Blossom] was out of his sight, he would get really upset,” Miranda said. 

Despite his medical issue and his occasional “grumpiness,” Miranda said, Tonka lived an overall healthy and happy life and will be missed deeply by everyone at the ranch and many members of the community. Eventually Miranda hopes to find another camel to live at the ranch. But for now he is still getting over the death of his beloved Tonka. Though losing animals is a part of the territory when running a shelter, Miranda said that Tonka was very special to him and this was a particularly difficult loss. 

“It’s so sad because he was a fixture out there,” Miranda said. “When he passed, I just sat out there with him and I just cried like a baby. I was so overcome with sadness…I want to  thank everybody who loved Tonka that came out to see him. I know he’ll be really missed.”