Overview
- The Recreation and Park Commission approved the ceremonial street renaming and the sign was revealed during the public “Claude Forever” memorial on Music Concourse Drive.
- The designation applies to the stretch of Music Concourse Drive between John F. Kennedy Promenade and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive directly in front of the academy’s entrance.
- About 2,000 people attended, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, with hymns by a New Orleans-style brass band, multiple eulogies, spoken word, and a second line procession.
- An academy spokesperson said there has never been a funeral of this magnitude for a resident of its collection, and Claude’s remains will enter its scientific holdings.
- Claude, a rare albino alligator who lived at the academy since 2008, died in December at age 30 after drawing an estimated 22 million visitors.