PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Zoo officials in Portland say veterinarians have euthanized Buck, the last member of the zoo’s Roosevelt elk herd. They say medication they’d been using to treat the nearly 19-year-old bull elk’s severe arthritis became ineffective and kidney failure set in.
Zoo Director Kim Smith said Friday that the 800-pound Buck “was a really special animal that everyone enjoyed working with.”
Buck was born in spring 1992 at the Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area in Oregon’s northern coast mountain range. He moved to the zoo in February 1993.
The zoo says its Elk Meadow exhibit is under review as part of a master-planning process and will be considered for a new exhibit.
