The oldest rhinoceros in the United States has died at a Tennessee zoo. Dolly was 56 years old.
In a social media post Thursday, Zoo Knoxville said Dolly was euthanized after her mobility declined significantly in recent days despite receiving old-age medical care for some time. The decision was made by Dolly's veterinary team with the help of specialists from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine.
The experts determined there were no treatment options left that could maintain Dolly's quality of life, the zoo's post said.
“This is an emotional time for everyone who has cared for and loved Dolly,” Bill Street, president and CEO of Zoo Knoxville, said in the post. “She was a remarkable animal, and her impact on this zoo and the people who have met her is immeasurable. Our priority was her comfort and dignity, and we take comfort in knowing she was surrounded by the people who knew her best.”
Dolly was born in 1968 in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park in South Africa. She was one of the first white rhinos at the Knoxville zoo, where she had lived since 1976. The southern white rhino raised 10 calves throughout her life and could be fiercely protective of them, in addition to being stubborn, the zoo said.
“But in her retirement years, Dolly has softened considerably. She fills her days with grazing and good naps in the sand,” the zoo's website says.
The median life expectancy for southern white rhinos is 36.5 years, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Though white rhinos are the most common of the rhino species, their numbers are still shrinking. According to the zoo, there were about a half-million rhinos worldwide at the start of the 20th century. Today, there are only 27,000 rhinos, about 17,000 of which are southern white rhinos.
Some 10,000 rhinos in Africa and Asia have been illegally killed for their horns in the last decade, the zoo says.
