Roger Williams Park Zoo Mourns Death Of 'Beloved' Female Giraffe

PROVIDENCE, RI — The Roger Williams Park Zoo lost a giant this week. On Wednesday, Sukari, a 28-year-old Masai giraffe, had to be put down due to arthritis and other age-related ailments.

Sukari was "beloved" by the zoo community, the zoo said in a statement, adding that "her comfort was the utmost priority while treating her."

After several days of close monitoring by vets, the decision was made to euthanize the giraffe over quality of life concerns.

"What we were doing was no longer keeping her comfortable," said Jessica Lovstad, one of the zoo's veterinarians. "In addition to exploring therapeutic options, we also made behavioral and environmental changes, but she didn’t respond as we had hoped. Sukari reached an age that is rare in the giraffe world, and we are glad that she was able to spend her senior years here contentedly until now."

Nearly half of the giraffes born in the wild die before their first birthday, the zoo said. Females living in captivity generally live about 20 years. At just a few months shy of her 29th birthday, Sukari was one of the oldest Masai giraffes under human care in North America, "a testament to the quality of care provided by the dedicated staff that took care of her.," the zoo said.

Sukari was born at the Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens in February 1993, arriving in Rhode Island just nine months later. She later gave birth to Jaffa, the zoo's male giraffe.

Over the last three decades, giraffe populations have declined "drastically," the zoo said, with only about 35,000 left in the wild. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature considers the species endangered.

"Of all the stories about Sukari we could share, one will forever leave a lasting impression," said Rachel McClung, a zookeeper and one of Sukari’s caretakers. "A young boy and his father would visit the giraffe every Saturday. After learning how much he loved the giraffe and some of the challenges he faced, we arranged for our young friend to meet Sukari. Although tentative at first, Sukari’s sweet and calm demeanor eased his fears and resulted in happy tears from all. These two new best friends were lost in their happy moment together."