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Happy, the Bronx Zoo elephant whose mirror-test breakthrough helped reshape scientists' understanding of elephant minds, has died at 55.
Her death brings to a close nearly 50 years at the zoo, and a saga that also became a major flashpoint in the debate over animal captivity and legal rights, as the AP reported.
The Bronx Zoo said Happy was euthanized Tuesday after age-related health problems worsened recently; she appeared to have declining kidney or liver function. Officials said a necropsy later found arthritis and sizable, inoperable uterine tumors that cannot be detected in elephants through exams or imaging.
Happy was taken from the wild in Asia and brought to the United States at age 1. She arrived at the Bronx Zoo in 1977, where she would spend most of her life. Zoo officials said Asian elephants in U.S. zoos typically have a median life expectancy of about 45 years.
"She was a wonderful elephant," interim zoo director Craig Piper told the AP. "She served as a tremendous ambassador for elephants and for elephant conservation."
Zoo officials said Happy spent her final weeks in an off-exhibit barn and yard within her enclosure by her own choice. Staff members…
Happy, a Bronx Zoo elephant who gave researchers new insight into the animal's behavior and became the crux of a closely watched animal rights case, has been euthanized at age 55, the zoo said Wednesday.
The Asian elephant was put to sleep Tuesday at the zoo where she lived for almost a half-century. Zoo officials said some age-related conditions accelerated in recent weeks, and she showed signs of a falloff in kidney or liver function. A necropsy revealed arthritis and large, inoperable uterine tumors that are impossible to diagnose in elephants through exams or imaging, the zoo said.
"She was a wonderful elephant," interim zoo director Craig Piper said in an interview Wednesday, as heavy-hearted staffers absorbed the loss of an animal some had tended for over 30 years. "She served as a tremendous ambassador for elephants and for elephant conservation."
Since Happy's death, the zoo's 57-year-old Patty is the last elephant on exhibit in the United States' largest city. The zoo's parent institution, the Wildlife Conservation Society, decided 20 years ago to stop acquiring pachyderms.
Born in the wild in Asia, Happy was brought to the U.S. as a 1-year-old. She was named for a character from "Snow White…