A three and a half-year-old bottlenose dolphin named Maxine died unexpectedly following a bacterial infection, as the Chicago Tribune reported. Bill Zeigler, the senior vice president of animal programs, said that an infection caused organ failure and soon after, Maxine passed away on June 2. If there are any bright spots in the story, it’s the fact that the incident was isolated and does not pose any threat to any other dolphins at the zoo.
“Maxine’s death has been devastating to all of the Chicago Zoological Society family and she will be greatly missed.”
The zoo waited to release the news of Maxine’s passing until after they received necropsy results and were able to share the exact cause of death with the public. Zeigler said that the animals on their property go through health and wellness checks routinely and this likely couldn’t have been prevented. The Chicago Sun-Times also shares that Maxine was born at the Brookfield Zoo and was a very active animal before her passing.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that tragedy has struck the zoo. In 2014, two dolphin calves died shortly after they were born. In 2011, a 4-year-old dolphin collided with another dolphin before a show, causing the dolphin to fracture her skull and die.
Maxine’s mother, a bottlenose dolphin, survives her daughter and is one of seven dolphins remaining at the Brookfield Zoo. The famed Zoo has yet to post a statement or photo of Maxine on their popular Instagram page, with their last post coming a few hours ago with a photo of a penguin.
Brookfield Zoo mourns loss of 3-year-old dolphin: https://t.co/vl9JBCt0Ad pic.twitter.com/IrpTbnv787
— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) June 12, 2018
This is not the only zoo that has faced tragedy over the past few months. As the Inquisitr reported last month, an 8-year-old giraffe named Zuberi tragically died at an off-exhibit giraffe complex. In a statement, the zoo said that the giraffe died after his head became, “wedged in a small space in a metal railing,” even though the animal was familiar with the area.
Upon hearing of the incident, large-mammal animal care specialists rushed to the scene but unfortunately, they were unable to save the large animal. The zoo was extremely sad over the passing of one of their beloved animals and released a statement regarding the event.
“The Zoo Atlanta family, and especially those animal care team members who are with the giraffes daily, are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic and unexpected loss.”
Thoughts go out to both Zoo families.
