A zoo in Quebec says it had to say goodbye to a 45-year-old white rhinoceros, the first one born on Canadian soil, calling her the \u201cstar animal\u201d at the zoo.<\/p>\n
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Zoo de Granby, located just east of Montreal, announced Shaboola\u2019s death on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Shaboola was the first white rhino born in Canada, at the Toronto Zoo on Oct. 13, 1979. She spent more than three decades in Toronto before being relocated to Zoo de Granby in Quebec in 2012 to keep company with KC \u2014 an energetic nine-year-old male.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in Toronto, Shaboola was perceived by her keepers as a gentle and calm animal, a personality that transcended at the Zoo: many developed a deep attachment to the beautiful Shaboo,\u201d the Quebec zoo said.<\/p>\n
The average lifespan of a rhino is around 36 years. Shaboola was the oldest in a zoological environment in Canada and the third-oldest female in North America, the zoo said.<\/p>\n
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White rhinos are threatened with extinction in the wild, as it\u2019s estimated there are about 10,000 of them left in the world, the zoo said, citing the International Union for Conservation of Nature.<\/p>\n
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At 45 years old, the zoo said Shaboola was classified as a geriatric animal for years and had received special care. But in the recent weeks, her overall health declined to the point where it became difficult for the animal experts to relieve her.<\/p>\n
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