Zoo Atlanta’s 2-year-old female southern white rhino, Zuri, has died following a brief illness.
According to a press release, Zuri experienced a sharp decline in her health and behavior earlier this week, and blood tests revealed severe anemia.
The zoo’s veterinary team administered extensive treatments, including an emergency blood transfusion using compatible blood from adult female Dakari and blood donated from other AZA facilities. Despite the team’s quick work and intensive care, Zuri continued to decline and died on Nov. 6, the release said.
“This is a devastating loss for the Zoo Atlanta team,” said Sam Rivera, DVM, Vice President of Animal Health. “The loss of Zuri is crushing not only because she was such a young animal who was treasured as an individual, but also because she was an incredibly valuable member of her vulnerable species. While it is too early for us to presume on any specific cause, we are hopeful that pathology reports will tell us more about Zuri’s condition.”
Beloved throughout Zoo Atlanta as the first southern white rhino calf ever born at the Zoo, Zuri arrived on Christmas Eve in 2023 and was the first offspring of mother Kiazi and father Mumbles.
The name Zuri, a moniker of Swahili origin which can mean “beautiful,” was the winner among more than 4,000 votes submitted during the Zoo’s 2024 “Rhino Naming Madness” – an event which further endeared Zuri to the community well outside the Zoo.
The Rhino Care Team continues to closely monitor Kiazi and Zuri’s “aunt” Dakari, with whom Zuri spent most of her time, and is providing them with extra care following the loss of their daughter and herd-mate.
A necropsy will be performed through the Zoo’s partnership with the University of Georgia Zoo and Exotic Animal Pathology Service in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Preliminary results should be available in several weeks.
