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An elephant on the Los Angeles Zoo died this week, the second in a few 12 months and simply days earlier than a vigil is about to be held by animal activists on the zoo to mourn elephants who’ve died in captivity.
Shaunzi, a 53-year-old feminine Asian elephant, was euthanized early Wednesday morning, based on zoo officers.
Round 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Shaunzi was seen mendacity down within the exhibit she shared with the zoo’s different feminine elephant, Tina, and appeared unable to rise up. Zoo veterinarians and care employees evaluated her situation, however efforts to assist her have been unsuccessful. She was sedated and subsequently put down.
“The choice to euthanize Shaunzi was a consensus determination made by her care crew primarily based on a number of components together with prognosis and welfare,” zoo officers mentioned in an e mail. “These components embrace her age, previous medical historical past, her incapability to proper herself with supportive efforts to boost her” and different considerations.
“In consequence, it was deemed the very best for her welfare to let her go,” the assertion concluded.
Shaunzi is the second L.A. Zoo elephant to die in a few 12 months after Jewel, a 61-year-old feminine, was euthanized in January 2023 as a consequence of what zoo officers mentioned was her declining high quality of life. Asian elephants usually have a lifespan of 60 to 70 years within the wild, based on the Worldwide Fund for Animal Welfare.
The L.A. Zoo has two Asian elephants remaining: Tina, 58, who arrived on the zoo in 2010, and Billy, a 39-year-old male who has been on the zoo since 1989.
Shaunzi was born in 1970 in Thailand, the place she lived for a few 12 months earlier than she was captured and utilized in circus work in the USA. In 1983, she was given to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, the place she lived earlier than being transferred to the L.A. Zoo in 2017.
“Shaunzi lived a full life and was an envoy for her species,” the zoo mentioned in an announcement on her passing. “She helped Angelenos study her wild counterparts and the challenges they face of their native vary.”
Shaunzi’s loss of life comes days earlier than a bunch of animal welfare activists are set to carry the annual Worldwide Candlelight Vigil for Elephants exterior the L.A. Zoo. The occasion is supposed to honor the elephants who died in captivity during the last 12 months at zoos and sanctuaries around the globe, in addition to spotlight the host of issues they face in contrast with elephants within the wild, together with medical points comparable to arthritis and the bone an infection osteomyelitis.
“The dearth of house alone is extraordinarily merciless, as a result of their brains and their our bodies are meant for strolling enormous distances,” mentioned Courtney Scott, an elephant advisor for In Protection of Animals, one of many teams behind the occasion.
The vigil is about to happen from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday exterior the Los Angeles Zoo, at 5333 Zoo Drive. Zoo officers mentioned they have been conscious of the occasion however declined to remark additional.
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