Balto

Do-Gooder
Full Name	Balto
Alias	No information
Origin	Nome, Territory of Alaska
Occupation	Sled Dog
Skills	No information
Hobby	No information
Goals	Get the Diphtheria antitoxin to Anchorage, Nenana, and then Nome in Alaska (succeeded)
Family	Unknown
Allies	No information
Enemies	No information
Type of Hero	Heroic Animal

Balto (1919 – March 14^th, 1933) was a Siberian Husky sled dog who led his sled team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome. in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported from Anchorage, Alaska, to Nenana, Alaska, by train and then to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the disease. The run is commemorated by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. He was named after the Sami explorer Samuel Balto.

Balto lived in ease at the Cleveland Zoo until his death on March 14, 1933, at the age of 14. Following his death, his body was mounted and displayed in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where it remains today. An animated film was made based on the event in 1995 entitled Balto. In the film, Balto is shown as being half wolf and was voiced by Kevin Bacon.

In Popular Culture

• The 1959 novel "Night Without End" by Alistair Maclean includes a fictional descendant of Balto, named after the namesake dog.
• in 1965, Carl Barks introduced a hero dog named "Barko" in an Uncle Scrooge comic book "North of the Yukon", paying homage to Balto.
• 1977 saw the release of "Balto: The Dog Who Saved Nome", a children's book with the telling of Balto's deeds.
• In December of 1995, "Balto", an animated film by Universal, loosely similar to the 1925 serum run, with many significant differences from actual historical events. The film portrayed the fictionalized version of Balto as a Wolf Dog instead of a Siberian Husky. Two sequels were released in 2002, and 2004.
• Balto makes a brief appearance in "Togo", a 2019 Disney film depicting the 1925 serum run but is focused on Leonhard Seppala and his dog. Unlike previous depictions, Balto and his contribution to the serum run, are shown more accurately in comparison to some of the other films.

Notes and Trivia

• A genetic analysis was performed on his remains and revealed that Balto had genome is more diverse with fewer unhealthy variants than modern purebred dogs and more similar to today's Alaskan huskies outcrossed for better fitness and health. Balto shared part of his ancestry with modern Siberian huskies (39%) as well as Greenland dogs (18%), Chinese village dogs (17%), Samoyeds (6%) and Alaskan malamutes (4%). Balto had various DNA adaptarions which include Arctic survival, including a thick double coat, the ability to digest starch, and bone and tissue development.