The oldest African elephant in a US zoo dies
Petal, a 52 year old African elephant, died last week in her stall at the Philadelphia Zoo last week. She was the oldest living African elephant in a United States zoo. The typical lifespan for an African elephant in captivity is early to mid 40 years. Most of her life was spent in the Philadelphia Zoo, where I myself saw her on a trip with one of my younger brothers some years ago. Petal was scheduled to be moved to a new home at the Pittsburgh Zoo International Conservation Center later this summer, along with two other two elephants that shared space with her in the exhibit. The two elephants, Kallie and Bette, are 24 and 25 and have spent almost their entire life with Petal. They will still make the move to Pittsburgh, which was determined was necessary to give the elephants appropriate living and roaming space.
