New York — Happy, the Bronx Zoo elephant who gave researchers new insight into animal behavior and became The core of a closely watched animal rights issueShe was euthanized at the age of 55, the zoo said on Wednesday.
An Asian elephant was put to sleep Tuesday at the zoo where she has lived for nearly half a century. Zoo officials said some age-related cases have accelerated in recent weeks, showing signs of decreased kidney or liver function. The zoo said that the autopsy revealed the presence of arthritis and large tumors in the uterus that are inoperable and impossible to diagnose in elephants through examinations or imaging.
“She was an amazing elephant,” Craig Piper, the zoo’s interim director, said in an interview Wednesday, as heartbroken staff came to terms with the loss of an animal some had cared for for more than 30 years. “She has served as a tremendous ambassador for elephants and for elephant conservation.”
Since Happy’s death, the zoo’s 57-year-old Patty has become the last elephant on display in the United States’ largest city. The zoo’s parent organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society, decided 20 years ago to stop acquiring skin mammals.
Happy was born in the wild in Asia and was brought to the United States when he was one year old. It was named after a character from the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarves before arriving at the zoo in 1977.
Happy was very interactive with her handler, and was easily stimulated with her favorite foods, such as watermelon or strawberries, said Keith Lovett, the zoo’s director of animal programs. Piper said that sometimes she would hide candy in her ear to save for later.
In 2005, she showed researchers that elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror, a sign of self-awareness seen in only a few other species. during an experienceHappy faced her reflection and repeatedly used her box to touch the “X” drawn above her eye, a mark she could only see in the mirror.
She was paired with other elephants until her last partner died in 2006. Happy then lived separately from Patty and a third elephant for fear they wouldn’t get along, although Lovett said the animals could see, smell and touch each other through a barrier. The third elephant, named Maxine, died in 2018.
The average life expectancy of Asian elephants in U.S. zoos is about 45 years, zoo officials said. It is difficult to determine their life expectancy in the wild.
During Happy’s lifetime, the zoo’s elephant exhibits came under increased scrutiny. Some experts said urban zoos are too small for creatures that roam long distances in the wild. Animal rights activists have argued that zoo enclosures are no place for large-brained, social legionnaires.
Some zoos have phased out their exhibits and sent elephants to sanctuaries, although some It remains committed to conservation and reproduction creatures, arguing that they help keep people interested in saving wildlife.
One activist group, the Human Rights Project, File a lawsuit against Bronx Zoo in 2018, seeking to have Happy declared a “person” for legal purposes and transferred to a large animal sanctuary. This was the first case of its kind involving an elephant, according to the group.
Citing a principle used to challenge the legality of imprisoning a person, the activist group said Happy was an “extraordinarily cognitively complex and independent non-human being” who was unlawfully deprived of her liberty and suffered confinement in an exhibit to the exclusion of other elephants.
Zoo officials said Happiness was diligently groomed and had room to swim, forage, and other natural behaviors. The zoo said that uprooting it from its long-term home could harm it.
The New York Supreme Court eventually He rejected the activists’ claimBy a majority of 5-2. Colorado’s highest court later He issued a similar ruling About five elephants in the zoo there.
However, two New York Supreme Court justices wrote clear dissents. One described Happy’s captivity as “inherently unjust and inhumane” and “an insult to a civilized society”.
The Human Rights Project has continued to pursue elephant-related issues in various other states.
Happy spent her final weeks, by choice, in a barn and a yard outside the exhibit inside her barn, Piper said. In the zoo’s version of hospice care, staff provided water, nutrition and pain management, he said.
The zoo said Patty is in good health.
The Wildlife Conservation Society said in 2006 that once there was only one elephant, the animal might be moved to another zoo if conditions were right. Piper said the zoo would be “really thoughtful and careful” in considering whether to move Patty from her home where she has lived for 53 years.