Cameron Park Zoo's senior animals hold world titles for longevity (2024)

Cameron Park Zoo is home to several senior animals that have exceeded their typical life expectancies, including a reticulated giraffe and a king vulture that hold world titles as the oldest animal of their species.

Zoo animals living longer is a wider trend made possible by recent advancements in animal medicine and husbandry. The advancements have lessened the need for zoo animals to be euthanized when they reach old age, and a new veterinary hospital being built at Cameron Park Zoo will further help staff care for these geriatric animals, zoo officials said.

Dr. James Kusmierczyk, staff veterinarian at Cameron Park Zoo for almost 12 years, said all animals, including those at zoos, are living longer due to recent advancements in animal medicine, specifically anti-inflammatory drugs and laser therapies.

“We (Cameron Park Zoo) do tend to have animals that live long but I don’t know we’re unique in that aspect,” he said. “The big thing that happened over the last 20 to 30 years is really honing in on geriatric medicine and that’s not just zoo animals but just animals in general, even domestics, companion animals and horses. The way geriatric medicine has developed there’s just a lot of innovations and improvements that allow us to keep our older animals comfortable for longer.”

One of the zoo’s oldest animals is Jenny, a giraffe born in 1992. Jenny is the world’s oldest female reticulated giraffe according to the Zoological Information Management System, a database used by more than 1,300 zoos, aquariums and wildlife institutions in 102 countries.

Female giraffes have a median life expectancy of 20 years in captivity, and at 32 years old, Jenny far exceeds her typical life expectancy.

Kusmierczyk said Jenny is given a daily joint supplement to help with her arthritis, like many of the other geriatric animals at the zoo. He said the zoo plans on building another space connected to the the giraffe’s barn in the near future, allowing staff to do more hands-on preventive care for the giraffes, like X-rays and laser therapy, which can help with acute inflammation and pain management.

Otherwise, Jenny is in good health for her age and does not require many specialized treatments, but that is not the case for all senior animals at the Cameron Park Zoo.

Kucing, a 15-year-old Sumatran tiger, is one of the three oldest male Sumatran tigers globally and the oldest male Sumatran tiger in North America. His mate, Maharani is 17 years old and is one of 14 female Sumatran tigers age 17 globally. The typical life expectancy for female and male Sumatran tigers is 17 years.

Kusmierczyk said Maharani is in good health, but Kucing is undergoing chemotherapy to treat lymphoma in his spleen. Kucing also takes anti-nausea pills and nutritional supplements to help with the debilitating effects of chemotherapy.

The zoo’s efforts are to maintain an endangered Sumatran tiger population. Kucing and Maharani are two of the 261 Sumatran tigers in the global zoo population.

Another member of an endangered species living a long life at Cameron Park Zoo is Tembo, a 47-year-old African elephant, born in the wild. Tembo has exceeded the median life expectancy of 39.4 years for a female African elephant in captivity and is one of 400 African elephants in the global zoo population.

Kusmierczyk said Tembo receives medications for her arthritis and laser therapy. Staff also have a daily exercise plan for Tembo, providing enrichment for the elephant and keeping her moving throughout her habitat.

“I can give medications, diagnose things, try to help them have a longer life, but a big part of that too, especially with things like arthritis, a lot of that just comes down to their daily care and what we do for them from a husbandry side,” Kusmierczyk said.

An example of the importance of husbandry is the zoo’s treatments for Jabba, a 43-year-old southern white rhinoceros, who is off-exhibit due to a chronic hoof issue.

Kusmierczyk said, along with giving Jabba various medications, zoo staff have put a layer of palliative pine shavings on the floor of Jabba’s barn. When the shavings get wet they create a soft padding for Jabba’s feet and the rhinoceros is very comfortable, he said.

Jabba is one of four of the oldest male southern white rhinoceroses in the world. The typical life expectancy for Jabba’s species is 50 to 55 years and he is one of 72 southern white rhinoceroses in the global zoo population.

While many of the older animals at the zoo need some form of geriatric care, Vivian, the zoo’s king vulture, is an exception.

“Vivian is an anomaly,” Kusmierczyk said.

At 72 years old, Vivian holds the world record for oldest female king vulture and has far exceeded her life expectancy of 30 years. Kusmierczyk said zoo staff monitor Vivian regularly but do not administer any invasive treatments for fear of causing more harm than good to the senior bird.

Kusmierczyk said the zoo’s new veterinary hospital will include new equipment that will help with less-invasive diagnostic capabilities, possibly improving surgeries and recovery times for the animals. Set to open later this year, the new 9,000-square-foot veterinary hospital will offer Kusmierczyk more space to work with the animals. He said this will be a big change from the tiny clinic he is working out of now.

“Just even having more space, we can do more things at the hospital other than having to do them in the night house or the barn,” he said. “It allows for more people to be present, so potentially bringing in some outside help, whether that’s surgical specialists or internal medicine specialists, partnering with people and having them elevate the level of veterinary care we can provide.”

The new hospital located near the zoo’s main entrance will include surgical suites, a pharmacy and spaces tailored to the needs of specific animals, including reptiles and aquatic animals.

The hospital is part of a zoo expansion project that also includes a 12,000-square-foot education center under the same roof but fully divided from the hospital, and a Penguin Shores exhibit on the other side of the zoo property. The $22 million project, which broke ground in December 2022, is funded in part by a $14.5 million bond countywide voters passed in 2019, as well as funds from the Cameron Park Zoological and Botanical Society, Waco and McLennan County.