Susie, the world's oldest female hippo at 49-years-old, sadly passed away on July 20, leaving behind her 17 babies and partner of 42 years.
Source: Dave Mattner/Adelaide Zoo
While Susie made it to an extremely impressive age, her health began to deteriorate over the past few months, and on Thursday, July 20, the staff at the zoo made the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep.Staff did everything they could to make the hippo's final days as painless and happy as possible.She was born at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney in 1967 before she was transferred to Adelaide zoo in 1975, where she spent the rest of her long life.
Source: Dave Mattner/Adelaide Zoo
Susie leaves behind her partner, Brutus, who is Australia's oldest hippo at an impressive 52-years-old. Staff have explained that they will be keeping a very close eye on him in the coming weeks after suffering such a terrible loss.Elaine Bensted, the chief executive of Zoos South Australia, a non-profit conservation charity, described:
We were incredibly lucky to have Susie with us for so long. Her remarkably long life demonstrates the exceptional care she received from Adelaide Zoo’s dedicated keeping and vet teams. Susie will be dearly missed by everyone who had the chance to work with her, and of course by the generations of visitors who came to see our iconic friend.
Source: Facebook/Vikki Clay
Benstead explains that throughout Susie's 40 years at the zoo, she saw over 10 million visitors come and go, truly ingraining herself into the history of the park.
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