One of the oldest giraffes below human care has died on the age of 31 in a Texas zoo.

Twiga, a Masai giraffe native to east Africa, died over the weekend on the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, within the east of the US state.

She outlived the standard lifespan of her species by about 5 years.

Had Twiga made it to her subsequent birthday in three months' time, she would have been among the many likes of Ursula, who died on the age of 32 in an Oklahoma zoo in 2017.

Twiga was born at Los Angeles Zoo, then moved to a different in Wisconsin earlier than coming into Ellen Trout's gates in 2008.

Director of the zoo Gordon Henley stated she "guided" different giraffes after they have been delivered to the zoo.

He stated: "She had provided company and companionship to our other giraffes as they came in and kind of guided them along."

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The director added that Twiga had been displaying some indicators of age and infrequently walked with a limp, however had been receiving "a lot of TLC" from employees and the zoo's vet.

"We knew based on her age that it was probably not going to be much longer. But that doesn't make it any easier when it happens," he stated.

A giraffe known as Mutangi additionally reached the age of 31 in an Australian zoo a few years in the past.

Content Source: information.sky.com