Peaches Dies, Leaves Wanky Alone

By Rachelle Bowden in Miscellaneous on Jan 19, 2005 6:20AM

The oldest African elephant in the US died at the Lincoln Park Zoo on Monday. 55-year-old Peaches was found on the floor of an indoor enclosure where she was breathing heavily and her eyes were unfocused. Sounds like Chicagoist's state last Friday night around 2 am! Like Chicagoist's friends, the vets at the zoo tried for several hours to get Peaches back on her feet to no avail. But unlike us, Peaches had to be given an anesthesia and was euthanized.

Zoo officials say that she most likely died of old age but tests are being done to make sure. Either way, Peaches lived well past the average age of an African elephant, which is around 42.

Peaches came to Chicago 2 years ago from the San Diego Wild Animal Park (we LOVE it there). The death leaves the zoo with only one elephant. Back in October there was another elephant named Tatima who died of tuberculosis. All animals were tested and the tests came back negative. LP Zoo is saying that Peaches didn't die from TB.

The zoo won't say whether they're going to get rid of the elephant exhibit, but said that the remaining elephant, Wanky (who names these guys!?) cannot be alone for long because elephants are social animals that cannot survive by themselves.