Puzzles the Giraffe, 27, Dies at Phila. Zoo

One of the Philadelphia Zoo’s most beloved animals is being remembered today as a "gentle and friendly favorite among keepers and visitors" after being euthanized last week, zoo officials said.

Puzzles had been suffering from failing health due to her advanced age. The female reticulated giraffe, 27, was one of the oldest giraffes living in the United States.

The most easily identifed giraffe of the Zoo’s three member herd, Puzzles had a large growth on her neck. The growth was not believed to have contributed to her declining health, zoo veterinarians said.

Puzzles was born in 1981 at a Children’s Zoo in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Three years later, she joined the Philadelphia Zoo.

She was the mother of seven calves.

She is survived by giraffes Stella, 7, and Twigga, 28, her enclosure mates in the Zoo’s "African Plains" exhibit.

Zoo staff have been closely monitoring Twigga, who has been receiving treatment for a variety of symptoms linked to her advanced age. Giraffes typically live 20 years.

According to the zoo’s website, most giraffes don’t live to their maximum age, though animals in captivity usually outlive their wild cousins. Like humans, females generally live longer than males.

Last week, the Zoo’s veterinary staff and Puzzles’ keepers agreed that humane euthanasia was the best medical option to alleviate her pain and suffering, a zoo official said in a statement. Puzzles was put to sleep March 21.

Veterinarians are awaiting the results of a necropsy conducted at University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center.