LUFKIN, Texas (AP) — A giraffe named Twiga who died over the weekend at an East Texas zoo on the age of 31 was once a number of the oldest giraffes being cared for via people.
Twiga was once discovered lifeless Saturday morning on the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, a town of about 34,000 about 170 miles (273 kilometers) southeast of Dallas, stated the zoo’s director, Gordon Henley.
Twiga would have became 32 on Oct. 1. She was once born on the Los Angeles Zoo. She then went to the Racine Zoo in Wisconsin prior to coming to the Ellen Trout Zoo in June 2008.
“She had supplied corporate and companionship to our different giraffes as they got here in and roughly guided them alongside,” Henley stated.
Twiga was once a Masai giraffe. Henley stated that their lifestyles expectancy is normally round 25 to 26 years.
Henley stated Twiga were appearing some indicators of age, and he or she from time to time walked with somewhat of limp. However he stated she were getting “a large number of TLC from the keeper group of workers and from our veterinarian.”
“We knew in accordance with her age that it was once most likely now not going to be for much longer. However that doesn’t make it any more uncomplicated when it occurs,” Henley stated.
In 2017, a giraffe named Ursula died on the age of 32 the Oklahoma Town Zoo and Botanical Lawn. In 2021, a giraffe named Mutangi died on the age of 31 on the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Australia.