Remembering Sukari

With great sadness, Roger Williams Park Zoo recently announced the death of Sukari, our beloved 28-year-old Masai giraffe.

The Zoo staff worked diligently to care for Sukari; her comfort was the utmost priority while treating her for significant arthritis and age-related ailments.

Given her advanced age and concern for the impact on quality of life, the teams made the extremely difficult decision to humanely euthanize Sukari on Wednesday, December 29.

She had long-standing arthritis issues that had been wellmanaged with different forms of care over the past few years.

What we were doing was no longer keeping her comfortable. In addition to exploring therapeutic options, the animal care team also made behavioral and environmental changes, but she didn’t respond as they had hoped. Sukari reached an age that is rare in the giraffe world.

Nearly half of the giraffe born in the wild do not make it to their first birthday; female giraffes in captivity average a 20-year lifespan. Sukari, who would have turned 29 in February 2022, was one of the oldest Masai giraffes in human care in North America, a testament to the quality of care provided by the dedicated staff that took care of her.

Sukari was born at Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens on February 27, 1993 and arrived at RWPZoo at just nine months old. She was the mother of Jaffa, our male giraffe, a matriarch to our humble herd, and a favorite among guests, staff and volunteers.

Giraffe populations have declined drastically over the past 30 years. There are only about 35,000 Masai giraffes left in the wild, and they are considered endangered by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature).

AZA-accredited institutions such as the Roger Williams Park Zoo have been mobilizing resources to increase awareness of giraffe conservation and conduct or support field conservation initiatives for giraffes.

Of all the stories about Sukari we could share, one will forever leave a lasting impression for Rachel McClung, zookeeper and one of Sukari’s caretakers. “A young boy and his father would visit the giraffe every Saturday. After learning how much he loved the giraffe and some of the challenges he faced, we arranged for our young friend to meet Sukari. Although tentative at first, Sukari’s sweet and calm demeanor eased his fears and resulted in happy tears from all. These two new best friends were lost in their happy moment together.”