Philadelphia Zoo Giraffe Put Down

One of the three giraffes at the Philadelphia Zoo has been put down at the age of 27.

Andrew Baker, the director of animal programs, said that staffers decided earlier this month that the time had come for Puzzles, who was suffering from a number of problems because of her advanced age, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The zoo notified as many staff and volunteers as possible to give them a chance to say goodbye.

All of our care staff become very attached to our individuals animals, Baker said. It can be traumatic when they pass away.

Puzzles died Friday in her stall in the African Plains exhibit at the zoo. A veteran gave her an anesthetic followed by a high dose of barbiturate.

The zoo now has two giraffes, Stella, 7, and Twigga, 28. Twigga, who, like Puzzles, suffers from diseases of old age, is being closely watched.

Puzzles was born in a zoo in Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1981 and came to Philadelphia three years later. She gave birth to seven calves, all of them now in other zoos.

A necropsy was to be performed at the University of Pennsylvania.