"ONE OF A KIND" [thread]
— phoenixzoo (@PhoenixZoo) April 2, 2020
The Phoenix Zoo community is mourning the loss of Reba, one of the Zoo’s Asian elephants. She was humanely euthanized this week following a recent and irreversible decline in her health. Reba was 51 years old. pic.twitter.com/42mVrJjg7a
A camera, installed in Reba's habitat, "showed her to be inactive and uncomfortable," the zoo said on its website.
"Reba was known to be a tough elephant but once you got to know the true Reba, there were so many other beautiful sides to her. There will never be another like her," elephant manager Heather Wright said in a statement on the zoo's website.
It was the second big loss for the Phoenix Zoo in nearly four months. Makope, a reticulated, 14-year-old giraffe, died Dec. 19.
Reba arrived in Phoenix in 1999 from the Ringling Brothers Centers for Elephant Conservation in Polk City, Florida, the zoo said. She was one of three elephants who lived at the zoo. Sheena, 48, and Indu, 54, also shared the habitat.
'There will never be another like her': Reba, Phoenix Zoo's Asian elephant, dies at 51 https://t.co/boPRVZapEd
— azcentral (@azcentral) April 3, 2020
The zoo had one large habitat until last year, KNXV reported. The three elephants did not like to be in the same area, so they were rotated in and out of the habitat, the television station. The zoo expanded the elephants' habitat, which essentially allowed all three pachyderms to have their own personal space.
Asian elephants are classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, KTVK reported.
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