The Passing of Warroo, The Bearded Dragon.

In loving memory flyers that were handed out at the celebration of life.

OLIVET, Mich. — The University of Olivet community is mourning the loss of Warroo, a beloved bearded dragon and longtime teaching animal, who passed away on March 29.

In his honor, the student organization Earthbound hosted a celebration of life on April 2 in the Student Center Community Room. 15 people attended to remember Warroo and the impact he had on campus.

Some of the people in attendance to the celebration of life.

Warroo had been a teaching animal since September of 2021. Warroo was discovered when one of the university's alumni found him walking up her driveway. It is believed by Leah Knapp, professor of biology, that he was abandoned. Knapp decided to take in Warroo. It was unsure how old he was at the time of rescue. 

The ice cream, popcorn, and water were offered at the celebration.

Pictures of Warroo that were offered for people to take at the celebration.

Starting about a year ago, Warroo developed an infection in his femoral pores, which occurs when scent glands become clogged. Knapp then administered antibiotics to help treat that infection. Warroo made a recovery and gained the weight back that he lost.

“After we got that under control, it came back with a vengeance. I took him to an exotic clinic to run some tests, and they cultured out a bacterium that had only been documented twice in reptiles before, which was actually a soil organism that typically doesn't cause infections,” Knapp said.  

The infection was resistant to most antibiotics causing Knapp to resort to Kanamycin, which is an antibiotic that is used only to treat severe infections.

“He was struggling to eat, so I knew his time was coming. I just hoped it would be over the summer so it wouldn't impact the kids as much, I know a lot of the kids had been going to him more, especially with finals around the corner,” junior Hailey Henning, president of Earthbound said. 

Warroo passed away on March 29, but he was discovered on March 30 by Mia Williams, a junior at The University of Olivet. 

“I felt terrible when I found him, but also he died peacefully, and he was done suffering because you could tell he was going downhill," Williams said.

With Warroo's passing, there are now five teaching animals left at UO. The teaching animals offered at The University of Olivet are used for teaching during class. They're also used outside the classroom with events like "Meet The Animal" tables put on by Earthbound, or bringing them out at events like Comet Fest. These events help educate and connect with students and the community. 

Jojo, Thurston, and Nandi at the celebration of life for their fellow animal.

“[Warroo] was one of our most handleable animals, and he was great at getting people into the animals on campus,” Lunar Seiler, senior and former president of Earthbound, said.

The teaching animals are housed in Knapp’s and Maria Davis’s office located on the first floor of Mott in room 102. With the passing of Warroo, the university has five teaching animals: Thurston, a red-eared slider turtle (20),Jojo, a sulcata tortoise (around 40), Beatrix of Fluffington, a Brazilian black-haired tarantula (8), Nandi, a ball python (7), and Yuli, a Russian tortoise whose age is unknown.

To learn more, Earthbound meetings are every other Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Mott room 104.