San Francisco zoo elephant dies at animal sanctuary

An Asian elephant who was a popular zoo attraction for decades has died at the animal sanctuary where she was moved last year because of her ill health and need for companions.

An Asian elephant who was a popular zoo attraction for decades has died at the animal sanctuary where she was moved last year because of her ill health and need for companions.

HT Image

Tinkerbelle, 39, couldn't move comfortably because of degenerative joint disease and was euthanized Thursday after she collapsed and her condition became "a quality of life issue," San Francisco Zoo officials said Friday.

She had been moved last fall to a 920-hectare (2,300-acre) sanctuary in the Sierra Foothills run by the Performing Animal Welfare Society.

The city Board of Supervisors last year passed tough requirements that could bar future housing of elephants at the zoo. The board decided that the zoo must extensively refurbish habitats for other animals _ such as bears, rhinos, hippos and sea lions _ before it can request permission to house the pachyderms. The changes were prompted when Calle, a 38-year-old Asian elephant, died at the zoo.