Johnathan Walker:Chioke, beloved giraffe, remembered in Sioux Falls. Zoo animals mourned across US when they die

Sioux Falls,Johnathan Walker South Dakota, is mourning a “gentle, curious, mischievous” member of its community this week: the beloved giraffe Chioke.

Chioke was euthanized after seriously injuring his foot in March, the Great Plains Zoo and Butterfly House & Aquarium announced Thursday. 

“We remember Chioke as a gentle, curious, mischievous giraffe who was always up for feedings and interacting with his keepers and guests,” the zoo said in a statement. “'Chioke' means 'gift from God,' and he certainly was."

Across the nation, deaths of beloved animals at zoos become newsworthy events and cause for mourning by veterinary staff and communities that saw the departed creatures - which so far this year have included giraffes, a gorilla, a mule, an orangutan, a red panda and an owl - as fixtures at local zoos. Popular animals have died in city zoos across the nation in recent months, including St. Louis, Atlanta, Omaha, Miami, Louisville and Memphis.

Chioke the giraffe had been at the South Dakota zoo since 2007, after he was moved from Bush Gardens in Tampa, Florida, where he was born in 2006. When he first arrived in Sioux Falls, Chioke stood at less than 8 feet tall. By the time he died, he was nearly 15 feet tall and had fathered three calves, all of which now live at other zoos, the release said.

Staff were able to say goodbye, while feeding Chioke his favorite apple biscuits, the zoo said. Grief counseling and mental health support services will be available to team members, and visitors who remember Chioke are encouraged to share those moments on the zoo's Facebook page to support those who are grieving.

Chioke’s life at the zoo

Chioke was a reticulated giraffe, a subspecies of giraffe found south of the Sahara Desert that is suffering from population decline due to habitat destruction and hunting or poaching, according to the San Francisco Zoo.

"Chioke was often chewing on a single piece of hay, which he would (usually) swap out for kale or his favorite biscuits when it came time for public giraffe feedings," the Sioux Falls zoo said. "When he was younger, his favorite enrichment was a jug filled with rocks. He would hit it with his ossicones and send rocks flying everywhere. He loved it.”

“Chioke also loved to play with his boomer ball and would kick it around the yard. Every time he went in or out, he liked to pause in the door of the giraffe barn to scratch his head."

But as much as Chioke loved to play, he lived with ongoing hoof and foot issues the older he became, including fractures in 2016 and 2017 at the tip of one of his toe bones, the zoo said. That eventually led to arthritis, which was managed often with a combination of rest inside a stall, pain medication, hoof care, joint supplements and laser therapy, the release states.

He also fractured a left front bone in March, an injury less common, but more severe than the two toe bone fractures several years earlier, according to the zoo. It's unknown how Chioke sustained the fracture, but he showed lameness in that left foot during a morning check.

"A team approach was utilized to develop a treatment plan with input from professionals all over the nation," the statement reads.

Treatment including rest, laser therapy and medications were all tried, but x-rays showed surgery wasn’t in Chioke’s best interest, and he began showing signs of stress, so his care team decided euthanasia was the best choice to address quality-of-life-concerns, the zoo said.

When a zoo animal dies, communities across US mourn and remember them fondly

Chioke is one of several zoo animals to be memorialized in recent months after touching the hearts of zoogoers and staff members. 

"Every animal death is difficult, and we know this one is particularly hard for GPZ/BHA staff and guests," the zoo in Sioux Falls said.

Giraffes in North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee have all died after tragic accidents in the last few months, local news outlets and USA TODAY reported. Saba, a baby giraffe in Miami, died last month after zoo staff believe she ran into a fence and broke her neck while being startled. 

“This has been a devastating loss,” Zoo Miami said.

A “celebrity” at the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky, Teak the orangutan, also died last month at the age of 36 after decades of being an “ambassador for his species” who was even once featured on the David Letterman show in 1988, the zoo said in a statement. He was euthanized after his long-term heart disease took a turn for the worse.

“He was known for his steady gaze and would often stand in the forefront of his habitat to engage with and observe the guests, and even seemed to take an interest in their footwear,” the Louisville Zoo said. 

The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska, said in January that “the world’s first test tube gorilla,” 28-year-old Timu, died in acute kidney failure. She was the first, and remains the only, gorilla to be conceived using in-vitro fertilization and was born prematurely in 1995.

“Timu was a gentle girl with soulful eyes,” said Christine Dupre, supervisor of great apes at the Omaha zoo. “She taught us the importance of patience and how relationship building strengthens the bond between keepers and the animals under their care.”