Germany's oldest elephant dies at the age of 67

Germany's oldest elephant died at the Augsburg Zoo at the age of 67. The "Augsburger Allgemeine" reported on Monday, citing zoo curator Thomas Lipp. The elephant cow Targa must have fallen asleep peacefully alone on Monday night, said Lipp. "Targa was an icon of our zoo," the newspaper quoted the deputy zoo director as saying. A statement from the zoo on this report was initially no longer available on Monday evening.

At the age of 67, Targa was the oldest elephant in Germany, according to the zoo in Augsburg. The animal was also one of the oldest elephants in human care worldwide. According to Lipp, the zoo employees were very concerned about the death of the prominent animal. "There were tears among the nurses."

Targa was born in India in 1955. At the age of six she came to Germany: first to Hamburg, then to Osnabrück. Targa then lived in Augsburg for 35 years. Until mid-2021 she was always in the Swabian zoo with her companion Burma. Then Burma had to be put down at the age of 53.

According to her keeper, Targa then searched for her deceased conspecific for a long time. She ended up being left alone in her enclosure, even though the zoo has two other elephants. Those in charge didn't want to risk a fight between the animals if Targa was left with the other two.