Elk Believed To Be 1 Of The Oldest In World Dies At Zoo

WATERTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Officials at a zoo in upstate New York say an elk believed to be one of the oldest in the world has died.

The New York State Zoo at Thompson Park in Watertown announced Monday that its eldest female Roosevelt elk, named Rosie, was put down on Aug. 3. Executive director Larry Sorel says Rosie lived to age 26 — twice the life span of the average elk.

The zoo says that Rosie was euthanized after her quality of life had recently deteriorated.

Rosie was born in Syracuse at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo on June 3, 1992. She was gifted to the New York State Zoo a year later and remained there since.

Roosevelt elk are the largest elk in North America, named for former President Theodore Roosevelt.

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This story has been corrected to show the elk's date of death was Aug. 3, not Aug. 1.