Lake Superior Zoo

of the three is the person in question. In this episode, the panelists were told the story about the acquisition of the illegal Duluth mongoose, then had to determine which person was the real Mayor Johnson. The clip is fun to watch and can be found by a quick search on YouTube. Mayor Johnson even gives a stereotypical Minnesota bashful look when he reveals himself to be the true mayor of Duluth.

My Facebook commenter was right: Mr. Magoo was indeed a national celebrity. Enough time has passed since then, however, that most zoo patrons today do not remember the mongoose or the city’s fight to save him.

“When I first came to work at the zoo, Mr. Magoo was hidden at the back of a display case,” said Sarah Wilcox, education director at the zoo. Wilcox and her colleagues decided to create a new display for the mongoose, bringing him back to a more prominent position.

Today he is the center of a display on invasive species. Wilcox wanted to provide a permanent home for Mr. Magoo, but also thought it important to explain to present-day zoo visitors why the government was so concerned about a mongoose taking up residence in the U.S.

“Mongoose have very high reproductive rates,” Wilcox said. “There are examples of mongoose being released onto islands, and they very quickly took over and competed with native species for their habitat. It could be devastating to an ecosystem.”