Happy, who taught researchers that elephants can recognize themselves, is euthanized at Bronx Zoo

NEW YORK (AP) — Happy, a Bronx Zoo elephant who gave researchers new insight into the animal’s behavior and became the crux of a closely watched animal rights case, has been euthanized at age 55, the zoo said Wednesday.The Asian elephant was put to sleep Tuesday at the zoo where she lived for almost a half-century. Zoo officials said some age-related conditions accelerated in recent weeks, and she showed signs of a falloff in kidney or liver function. A necropsy revealed arthritis and large, inoperable uterine tumors that are impossible to diagnose in elephants through exams or imaging, the zoo said.“She was a wonderful elephant,” interim zoo director Craig Piper said in an interview Wednesday, as heavy-hearted staffers absorbed the loss of an animal some had tended for over 30 years. “She served as a tremendous ambassador for elephants and for elephant conservation.”

Since Happy’s death, the zoo’s 57-year-old Patty is the last elephant on exhibit in the United States’ largest city. The zoo’s parent institution, the Wildlife Conservation Society, decided 20 years ago to stop acquiring pachyderms.

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