Auckland Zoo buries dead animals at undisclosed location

Friday, 22 September 2017

Even in death Auckland Zoo's high profile animals continue to help animal conservation.

In August the Zoo put down Sumatran tiger Jaka after vets found a large inoperable tumour in his intestine. In April elderly giraffe Zabulu, father to 15 giraffe calves, died after falling ill and last year mother and son hippos Faith and Fudge passed away.

While the lives of zoo animals are open to the public, what happens after death isn't common knowledge. Stuff.co.nz requested behind the scenes information.

Auckland Zoo spends just under $2000 a year on burying or cremating its animals once they've passed away, a fraction of its $17.9 million annual operating expenditure.

* Auckland Zoo's elderly hippo Faith dies just months after son Fudge

* Auckland Zoo's hippopotamus 'Fudge' dies aged 28

* Auckland Zoo's much loved giraffe Zabulu dies**

Auckland Zoo spokeswoman Jane Healy said deaths were emotional and staff always had the ability to talk about and share their grief in a supportive environment.

'The death of animals, as anyone who has pets knows, is part of the life cycle,' Healy said.

'At Auckland Zoo where we have a very large number of animals, with a diverse range of life expectancies, it is naturally very much a part of daily life here.'

Zoo keeping and veterinary staff were trained to deal with everyday life and death situations, she said.

Auckland Zoo does not offer bereavement leave to its staff when an animal dies.

The first thing the zoo does after the death is to carry out a post-mortem.

'This is a really important way for us to thoroughly investigate and record our findings, which we also then share through a zoos' international database, so that others can also learn and benefit from these findings,' Healy said.

Depending on their size, some animals were cremated and some were buried, she said.

Most buried animals were buried off-site at an undisclosed location, she said.

There were a few animals buried on-site, in private areas of the zoo, including the elderly elephant Kashin who died in 2009, and hippos Faith and Fudge.

In addition to its post-mortem findings, Auckland Zoo also kept tissue samples of animals, stored in a minus 150 degree freezer to ensure their preservation.

This was part of an international conservation and research project called Frozen Ark, which compiled and catalogued endangered animal DNA and cells before they went extinct to help with future conservation efforts.

As for Jaka he'll be cremated off-site at a pet crematorium in the coming weeks.