Jewel, oldest Asian elephant at Los Angeles Zoo, is euthanized at 61

The Los Angeles Zoo’s oldest Asian elephant, 61 years outdated, was euthanized this week, officers stated Friday.

Jewel was in deteriorating well being and had lived on the zoo close to Griffith Park since 2010, in response to an announcement saying her passing. Veterinarians and different staffers had been monitoring her “across the clock” since Sunday, officers stated.

“In the long run, we realized that her high quality of life was persevering with to say no regardless of our greatest efforts, and we needed to make this very troublesome choice to compassionately euthanize her,” Dr. Dominique Keller, the zoo’s chief veterinarian and director of animal well being and wellness, stated within the assertion.

Jewel was as soon as owned by Willie Davenport, a Texas man whose household was within the circus enterprise. The then-24-year-old purchased Jewel and one other Asian elephant, Tina, from a retired elephant coach for $150,000 in 2006, The Instances reported in 2009. The 2 lived in Davenport’s barn with a 3rd elephant, Boo, which had been in his household for 4 many years.

Regulators from the U.S. Division of Agriculture and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accused Davenport of failing to safe permits and mistreating the elephants, which have been stated to be dangerously skinny. Allowed to maintain one elephant, he selected Boo.

Jewel and Tina have been taken to the San Diego Zoo, the place Jewel underwent dental surgical procedure and remedy for abscesses on her ft, earlier than coming to Los Angeles in 2010.

Zoo officers described Tina, 57, as Jewel’s companion of 30 years. The zoo can also be house to a 38-year-old bull Asian elephant, Billy, and a 51-year-old feminine, Shaunzi.

Asian elephants hail from southeast Asia, with India house to about 60% of the world’s wild inhabitants of about 40,000. A lot of their pure behavior has been destroyed, zoo officers stated, and poachers hunt the endangered animals for his or her tusks.