Ruaha has died at Basel Zoo at the age of 59, which made her the world’s oldest African elephant in captivity, the zoo announced on Thursday.
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She was delivered to the zoo in 1952 along with four other young elephants. Ruaha was believed to be one year old at the time.
A member of the zoo staff found her dead in the elephant enclosure on Thursday morning. The zoo said she probably died of old age, but will investigate the actual cause of death.
Ruaha, named after a plain in Tanzania, was captured by Ernst Lang, the zoo’s veterinarian at the time who would later become its director. The animal was transported to Switzerland by boat and train.
The zoo said what was initially a shy animal developed into the undisputed leader of the herd. Her ability to control the group enabled the zoo to move the elephants to a free-range enclosure in the 1990s.
The five remaining members of Basel’s elephant herd paid their last respects to Ruaha. They gathered around her, and stroked her with their trunks, the zoo said.
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