Captive animal deaths 2024

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List of animals that are known to have died in captivity in 2024

This is a list of animals that have died in captivity in 2024. Many more animal deaths occur in captivity far exceeding the number of reported cases. Typically, only the death of elderly animals or well known animals gains attention leaving the majority of deaths unreported. Numerous animals are euthanized at a young age due to being deemed surplus or excess to the zoo's needs.

This is a list that may never be finalised as it is a compilation of items or information for which the complete content may never be known and may only be updated periodically.

Name	Species	Date of death	Location of death	Country	Reported cause of death	Reported age at death	Ref
Little Joe	Western lowland gorilla	May 5	St. Louis Zoo	USA	Heart attack	26	^[1]
Juliet	Manatee	Apr 21	ZooTampa	USA			^[2]
Lulu	African elephant	Apr 10	ARK 2000 captive wildlife sanctuary	USA	Euthanized	58	^[3]
Varda	Asian elephant	Apr 7	Ramat Gan Safari	Israel		66	^[4]
Cobby	Chimpanzee	Apr 6	San Francisco Zoo & Gardens	USA	Undetermined	63	^[5]
Chioke	Reticulated giraffe	Mar 28	Great Plains Zoo and Butterfly House & Aquarium	USA	Euthanized	18	^[6]
Bana	Western lowland gorilla	Mar 26	Lincoln Park Zoo	USA	Euthanized	29	^[7]
Maurepas	Cougar	Mar 28	Audubon Zoo	USA	Kidney disease	16	^[8]
Pontchartrain	Cougar	Mar 28	Audubon Zoo	USA	Kidney disease	16	^[8]
Teak	Orangutan	Mar 27	Louisville Zoo	USA			^[9]
Unknown	Beluga whale	Mar	Marineland	Canada			^[10]
Unknown	Beluga whale	Mar	Marineland	Canada			^[10]
Beacon	Giraffe	Mar 25	Vizag zoo	India	cardio-pulmonary failure	12	^[11]
Unknown	Giraffe	Mar 16	Zoo Miami	USA	Broken neck	4 months	^[12]
Beau	Cheetah	Mar 14	Phoenix Zoo	USA			^[13]
Tsuni	Elephant	Feb 16	Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium	USA	Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus	2	^[14]
Savannah	Asian elephant	Jan 30	El Paso Zoo	USA	Euthanized	71	^[15]
Moyo	Eastern black rhino	Jan 26	Birmingham Zoo	USA	Euthanized after dental surgery	6	^[16]
Molly	Bottlenose dolphin	Jan 4	Ocean Park	Hong Kong		40	^[17]
Shaunzi	Asian elephant	Jan	Los Angeles Zoo	USA			^[18]
Hachibe	Whale shark	Jan 9	Notojima Aquarium	Japan	died one day after the next after equipment failures (due to earth quake) led to their water tank environment to deteriorate		^[19]
Haku	Whale shark	Jan 10	Notojima Aquarium	Japan	died one day after the next after equipment failures (due to earth quake) led to their water tank environment to deteriorate		^[19]
Moyo	Eastern black rhinoceros	Jan 30	Alabama zoo	USA	Euthanized	6	^[20]

References

[1] St. Louis Zoo suffers great loss after sudden death of Little Joe 5

[2] Juliet, manatee rescued from Miami Seaquarium, dies at ZooTampa CBS News Miami

[3] Performing Animal Welfare Society Announces Death of Lulu - Oldest African Elephant in North America PR Newswire

[4] Oldest elephant in Ramat Gan Safari dies Israel National News

[5] Oldest male chimpanzee in US dies at San Francisco zoo Yahoo

[6] Beloved giraffe of South Dakota zoo euthanized after foot injury The Seattle Times

[7] Lincoln Park Zoo’s Beloved Gorilla Matriarch, Bana, Has Died WTTW

[:2-8] 8.0 ^8.1 Two cougars at Audubon Zoo die from kidney disease 4WWWL

[9] Louisville Zoo mourns loss of beloved 36-year-old orangutan, Teak WHAS 11

[:1-10] 10.0 ^10.1 2 more belugas dead at Marineland marking 17 whale deaths since 2019 CBC

[11] Male giraffe at Vizag zoo dies due to ill health The Week

[12] Baby Giraffe Found Dead with Broken Neck at Florida Zoo in 'a Devastating Loss' Yahoo

[13] ttps://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article286679780.html

[14] ttps://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2024/02/pittsburgh-zoos-elephant-calf-dies/

[15] ttps://kvia.com/news/el-paso/2024/01/30/savannah-el-pasos-beloved-elephant-has-died/

[16] Birmingham Zoo 'heartbroken' over death of black rhino due to complications following dental procedure

[17] Oldest male dolphin at Ocean Park passes away rthk.hk Archived

[18] ttps://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/los-angeles-zoo-mourns-loss-of-53-year-old-asian-elephant-shaunzi/3304063/

[:0-19] 19.0 ^19.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20240118111132/https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240112/p2a/00m/0na/005000c

[20] Beloved rhino’s death shrouded in mystery after health condition puzzles Alabama zoo Miami Herald

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List of animals that are known to have died in captivity in 2024

See also

References