{"id":150491,"date":"2025-08-16T12:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T12:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150491\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T12:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T12:35:11","slug":"san-diego-zoo-says-polar-bear-giraffe-have-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150491\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Zoo says polar bear, giraffe have died"},"content":{"rendered":"

They were visitor favorites at San Diego Zoo, where they lived for well more than two decades. Kalluk, a 24-year-old polar bear, had arrived after he\u2019d been orphaned as a cub. And Nicky, a 28-year-old giraffe, was said to be the oldest Masai giraffe in North America.<\/p>\n

Both beloved animals have died, the zoo announced Friday. Kalluk was of an advanced age and suffering kidney failure, and Nicky was showing signs of advanced age. Each was compassionately euthanized Thursday. Greg Vicino, vice president of wildlife care at San Diego Zoo, called it \u201ca day with heavy hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

SeaWorld San Diego also announced sad news Friday, sharing that a walrus names Basilla, known to park attendees as Basa, had died. At 42, SeaWorld says she was among the oldest walruses in human care. A spokesperson said she had \u201cdisplayed sudden intestinal issues last week and passed quickly surrounded by her care team and veterinarians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both organizations spoke of the research advances into the animal species that each of the three ambassador animals helped provide.<\/p>\n

Monitoring of Kalluk, for example, helped stumped researchers discern how polar bears were able to find each other over the vast and apparently featureless Arctic tundra, said Megan Owen, vice president of wildlife conservation science for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The answer: They leave scent in their paw prints \u2014 a scented trail. \u201cIt was fascinating,\u201d she said Friday. \u201cIt was just incredible to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kalluk,Kalluk, one of the polar bears at the San Diego Zoo, rinsed off water at the Polar Bear Plunge in 2010. (Howard Lipin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune<\/p>\n

Owen \u2014 who has monitored the species in the Arctic wild \u2014 said monitoring Kalluk at the zoo also helped with better understanding polar bears\u2019 body weight and fat stores, and therefore conservation efforts to protect them. All of it, she said is \u201ca critically important part of his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kalluk came in at roughly 10 feet tall and 1,100 pounds, \u201cextraordinarily tall\u201d and \u201cone of the biggest male polar bears I have seen,\u201d she said. He was a \u201cbig, strong polar bear. But he also just had this very gentle nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and his sister Tatqiq came to the zoo in 2001 after researchers tracking their mother could no longer find her and raced to rescue the orphaned cubs. The siblings moved in with Chinook, who\u2019d landed at San Diego Zoo as an orphaned cub in 1996.<\/p>\n

In a social media posting Friday, the zoo described Kalluk as having \u201ccalm strength within the trio, with an inquisitive and adventurous nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ORGTwo orphan polar bear cubs observe their new home and exhibit during their public debut at the San Diego Zoo on June 30, 2001. The brother and sister duo, named Kalluk and Tatqiq, respectively, were rescued from the Alaskan wilderness earlier this year after their mother was killed. (AP Photo\/San Diego Zoo, Ken Bohn)<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, after video of him panting and drooling went a bit viral, zoo officials said he was exhibiting breeding behavior. Kalluk had wooed Chinook over the years, but their match did not produce any cubs.<\/p>\n

Over the last few weeks, changes in behavior prompted a medical examination, and the subsequent decision to euthanize him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter his passing, Tatqiq and Chinook were given the opportunity to say their goodbyes,\u201d the zoo said in the posting. \u201cBeing with them in this moment reminded us that the feeling of loss transcends species, and our team remains committed to supporting them through this transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Diego Zoo was also the longtime home of popular giraffe Nicky, the matriarch and oldest member of the herd.<\/p>\n

In announcing her death on Instagram, the zoo said Nicky was a \u201csteadfast matriarch\u201d who watched over the herd \u201cwith unwavering devotion, embodying wisdom and grace in every interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The posting also said Nicky \u201clovingly\u201d raised five calves, including Chifu, a male giraffe who fathered Madoadoa. The baby \u2014 Nicky\u2019s grandson \u2014 was born at San Diego Zoo last month.<\/p>\n

Vicino said the zoo \u201cmakes a commitment to the animals from birth to death\u201d and works very seriously to ensure they are healthy and thriving throughout, and that they don\u2019t suffer at the end of their lives when the prognosis is poor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s part of our obligation,\u201d Vicino said. \u201cIt\u2019s always painful, but we kind of look at the legacy, and we hope that we\u2019ve accomplished our mission, which is just making every aspect of their life \u2014 from the early parts to the end parts \u2014 as excellent as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the last week, Nicky\u2019s health had declined significantly. Vicino said the giraffe was humanely euthanized in a behind-the-scenes slice of her habitat, allowing her herd to understand that she was dead and not just missing.<\/p>\n

\"SeaWorldSeaWorld announced Friday that a walrus named Basilla, known to park guests as Basa, died last week at age 42. (SeaWorld San Diego)<\/p>\n

At SeaWorld, staffers and guests alike are mourning the loss of Basa. She had joined SeaWorld\u2019s huddle\u00a0in 2019, moving there from Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Wash.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince then, she has called our Wild Arctic exhibit home, where she formed deep bonds with her dedicated zoological team, communicating through sound, smell, and touch,\u201d SeaWorld said in announcing her death. \u201cJust behind her love for those connections was her daily nap time, which she never missed and always made endearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

SeaWorld said Basa also played a role in conservation research and most recently was part of a study that helps scientists assess body conditions of walruses in the wild.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer team, and all who knew her over the years, will miss her tremendously,\u201d SeaWorld said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They were visitor favorites at San Diego Zoo, where they lived for well more than two decades. Kalluk,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,746,1370,728,50,3549,3550,7264,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-150491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-san-diego","16":"tag-san-diego-county","17":"tag-sandiego","18":"tag-top-stories-sdut","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115038474998799158","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}