MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tyranza, the oldest African elephant in North America has died. She was 56.
Tyranza, or Ty, whose favorite treats included watermelons, bananas and the occasional jellybean, had rapidly declining health recently and was euthanized, Memphis Zoo officials said on Friday.
“Many generations of Zoo fans and even some employees haven’t known a Memphis Zoo without Tyranza. She was the toughest marshmallow you could ever meet. I will miss her calm, steady presence,” Matt Thompson, Chief Zoological Officer, said in a news release.
She was born in the wild in 1964 and was believed to have been orphaned. She worked shortly as a circus elephant for the Ringling Brothers before she retired in 1977 to the Memphis Zoo when she was 12.
“Through consistency and fairness, Ty quickly settled into a routine that included a permanent home and only three regular Keepers. After a couple of years of working with Ty we were able to become friends and she remains one of my most valued friends,” Houston Winbigler, associate curater at the Memphis Zoo who worked with her for 40 years, said in a statement. “Ty is a very wise and intelligent being. She is a master of reading people and is capable of completely humiliating the arrogant or comforting the humble. I have worked with chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. I have also closely worked around 10 elephants. There is something, a knowing presence and mental acuity that Ty possessed that was unique. Ty has taught me more about fairness and trust than any being I’ve ever met.”