Oakland Zoo Mourns Loss Of African Elephant, Lisa, Age 46

OAKLAND, CA — Staff and visitors are mourning the loss of one of Oakland Zoo's most popular animals, Lisa, a 46-year-old African Elephant who died Sunday, March 26.

"After several years of chronic and degenerative health issues despite progressive treatments and cutting-edge therapies, Lisa, Oakland Zoo’s elderly 46-year-old African elephant, was humanely euthanized yesterday due to irreversible worsening of those health issues, which had been compounded by recently developed ventral edema," the zoo announced in a statement.

According to that statement published on the Oakland Zoo's website, Lisa arrived at Oakland Zoo in 1979, and her decades-long residency "has deeply impacted her dedicated keepers, veterinary team, staff, volunteers, and millions of Zoo guests."

"Lisa was one of only sixteen female African Elephants 46 years and older in AZA-accredited zoos; and her geriatric years brought on several age-related afflictions including ongoing eye ulcers, progressing degenerative arthritis, foot and nail lesions, and in the past few weeks, ventral edema causing excessive fluid retention in her belly which then caused internal and external vaginal ulcers," the statement said.

Oakland Zoo Vice President of Veterinary Services said he and all zoo staff were "heartbroken."

"Over the years long course of care and treatments to provide her a good quality of life through multimodal pain control, her disease progressed to a point where we didn’t want her last day to be her worst day, and it was time to do the most humane thing and to let her go," Herman said. "This was the best thing for Lisa, but the most painful and heart wrenching for all her Zoo family and the Bay Area community that has loved her for decades."

Lisa’s progressive arthritis first presented itself in 2013, and with her care plan constantly evolving as her arthritis progressed, by 2021 a multimodal medical treatment plan was put into place based on her needs, the statement said.

"In the past several months her degenerative arthritis became debilitating enough to affect her mobility to the point she began avoiding bending her body to lie down and rest, even to sleep, in her heated elephant barn," the statement said. "Her care team made several efforts to provide Lisa with modifications to her sleep area that would help assist her in lying down and getting back to her feet, but there was very limited success."

Ultimately, her increased standing brought about recurring foot and nail lesions, the zoo said.

According to the statement announcing her death, Lisa’s ongoing care team has consisted of Oakland Zoo veterinarians, animal care staff, and experts in the field including ophthalmologists, physical therapists, arthritis researchers and specialists, wildlife behaviorists, and consulting veterinarians from other AZA-accredited zoos.

Her medical care plan included physical therapy, pain medication, laser treatments, cryotherapy, and daily foot soaks in Epsom salt, and two cutting-edge stem cell procedures in October 2022 and January of this year, in partnership with researchers and veterinarians from Michigan State University.

"The procedures involved infusing stem cells from a healthy elephant into Lisa’s bloodstream in hope of alleviating her arthritic inflammation, restoring cartilage, and easing her general discomfort," the statement said. "While Lisa showed signs of improvement from the stem cell procedures with some improved mobility, her limbs and joints remained quite stiff and continued declining in the winter months."

Oakland Zoo staff and volunteers are deeply mourning the loss, the statement said, adding that elephant zookeepers had recently arranged a celebration of her 46th birthday by presenting her with a large spread of treats, enrichment, and pinatas filled with her favorite fruits.

"Lisa has been a deeply beloved part of our Oakland Zoo family since 1979. She was truly special to me, and to all of us here. Her loss is felt by so many, especially her closely bonded elephant keepers. We’ll miss her greatly," Colleen Kinzley, VP of Animal Care, Conservation and Research at Oakland Zoo, said.

According to the news release Lisa's remains were transported last evening to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine for necropsy.

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