Community Chat

[Anonymous032819]

RIP M'DUNDA: An African elephant known for her “gentle and kind demeanor” and who was the oldest in the herd, has died at her adopted home, the Oakland Zoo. M’Dunda, who was 50-years old died Tuesday after she collapsed in the zoo’s elephant habitat. African elephants usually live until about 60 or 70 years old in the wild, and between 20 to 40 years in captivity.

OAKLAND, Calif. - An African elephant known for her “gentle and kind demeanor” and who was the oldest in the herd, has died at her adopted home, the Oakland Zoo, officials announced on Wednesday.

Zoo officials said M’Dunda died Tuesday after she collapsed in the zoo’s elephant habitat. She was 50.

Before her death, M'Dundamella - her full name - showed no signs of existing medical issues, albeit her advanced age, zoo spokeswoman Erin Harrison said. She was taken Tuesday night to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine for a necropsy to determine the specific cause of death.

African elephants usually live until about 60 or 70 years old in the wild, and the median life span of zoo-born females is 17 years, according to National Geographic.

M’Dunda was also the third oldest African elephant in the system of Association of Zoos and Aquariums. M’Dunda came to Oakland Zoo in 1993 from San Diego Zoo, and was often seen “trunk twirling” with Osh, the male of the herd, Harrison said. When she wasn’t doing that, she might have been cooling off with a splash or a nice mud wallow.

“M’Dunda has been part of our Oakland Zoo family for 26 years,” Dr. Joel Parrott, president & CEO of the Oakland Zoo, said in a statement. “She was such a gentle being, and closely bonded with her keepers. We’ll miss her greatly.”

[IMW]

Elephants are such special creatures, I hope she had a good life, and may all the elephants live wild and free.

[Peaches McPhee]

A quick death is all any of us can hope for.