One of the world's oldest endangered giraffes in captivity, 31-year-old Twiga, dies at Texas zoo
CBSN
A 31-year-old giraffe named Twiga has died at its home at Texas' Ellen Trout Zoo, officials said over the weekend. She was believed to be one of the world's oldest living giraffes in captivity.
Twiga was a Masai giraffe, a species native to Tanzania and Kenya whose population has declined by more than half in recent decades, according to the Wild Nature Institute. The species is considered endangered, according got the IUCN Red List, with just 35,000 mature individuals estimated to be remaining in the wild.
Twiga was 31 years and 9 months old when she died, the City of Lufkin, Texas, said on Facebook, adding that she had "held the record for the oldest living giraffe in human care." Born in 1991, Twiga ended up at Texas' Ellen Trout Zoo in 2008 after a stint at Racine Zoo in Wisconsin.
