Totally unexpected: Riverbanks Zoo elephant dies

When the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia opened to visitors on Thursday, there was no reason to think staff would be in crisis mode at the elephant exhibit before the morning was over.

Around 10:30 a.m. , as visitors looked on, Penny, one of three African elephants on exhibit at Riverbanks Zoo, stumbled and fell and was unable to get back up, zoo spokeswoman Susan O’Cain said.

The zoo veterinarians and vet techs knew something was wrong pretty quick when Penny’s herdmates, Robin and Bell began calling and trumpeting, said Riverbanks Director of animal collections and conservation, Ed Diebold.

As zoo staff descended on the exhibit, Robin and Bell went over to Penny who struggled several times to get back up on her feet, and sniffed her, and hung out with her until zoo staff moved them into the barn, Diebold said.

Later in the day, officials decided to “humanely euthanize” the 37-year-old elephant.

“This was totally unexpected,” said O’Cain.

In December, when another of the zoo’s African elephants, Petunia, was euthanized, she had been suffering from medical conditions.

With Penny, however, “she was not being treated for anything, there were no signs, there was nothing out of the ordinary,” O’Cain said.

After Penny fell, zoo staff was dispatched to the area to move visitors out of the area, and answer questions.

The exhibit was closed the rest of the day but will reopen on Friday, O’Cain said.

A necropsy will be performed to determine what led to her medical crisis on Thursday.

Penny came to Riverbanks Zoo in 2001.

This story was originally published May 4, 2017 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Totally unexpected: Riverbanks Zoo elephant dies."