63-Year-Old Elephant Dies at Florida Zoo

ORLANDO, Fla. – A 63-year-old elephant has died at the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens in Orlando.

Zoo officials say the elephant named Mary died Tuesday of age-related illness. A necropsy is being conducted to determine the exact cause of death.

The zoo's director of animal collections, Bonnie Breitbeil, says that Maude, the zoo's other elephant, was able to say goodbye to Mary. Like people, elephants also mourn.

Mary was born in 1946 and joined a circus in the United States in 1952. She came to zoo in 1983.

Mary liked when zookeepers rubbed her stomach and was known for sneaking up on new keepers.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that according to the zoo, Mary was the third-oldest Asian elephant on record at an Association of Zoos & Aquariums-accredited zoo in the United States.