Ailing Giraffe Gretchen, 22, Is Euthanized

Gretchen was a friendly beauty cursed with a slight deformity.

It is unclear how the 14-foot, 1,400-pound giraffe developed her condition, which caused her hooves to rotate slightly inward instead of growing straight out. But the lingering pain in her legs, which worsened as she aged, never took away from Gretchen's otherwise sunny demeanor, her caretakers said.

Gretchen, dubbed the "Lady of the House" at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, was euthanized yesterday because of worsening arthritis. She was 22.

Born at the Denver Zoo in 1986 and brought to Maryland a year later, Gretchen was known among zoo visitors and her handlers for being especially sweet and inquisitive, said Ellen Bronson, the zoo's chief veterinarian. "She was very special; she kind of ran the place," Bronson said. "Giraffes are pretty individual. They're all really different, and Gretchen was very gentle and amiable, which were some of the attributes that led to her longevity."

Zoo officials said Gretchen was a hit with children and families, in part because she was so easygoing. Her demeanor was instrumental in one notable success story for the 132-year-old zoo. About three years ago, Gretchen donated several pints of blood to an ailing newborn giraffe at another zoo. The transfusion was successful, her keepers say, because of her calmness during the procedure.

"Over the years, she really bonded with her keepers," said Rebecca Gullott, the zoo's mammal collection and conservation manager. "Through all the treatments and the hours of training, she was great."

But as Gretchen approached her early 20s, she endured many familiar hardships of old age.

In her final months, she was given joint supplement pills and biweekly injections in her thighs and shoulders. Daily cocktails of anti-inflammatory and pain medications were used to ward off the effects of arthritis. As she lost weight, Gretchen was put on a high-calorie, high-fiber diet. Human and animal acupuncturists were brought in to try new therapies.

Giraffes do not complain loudly, but the signs of Gretchen's growing discomfort were telling. "She was walking slower; she wouldn't want to go out on the yard; she was very dependent," Bronson said.

This past week, zoo officials decided it would be best to euthanize Gretchen, and they said their goodbyes.

About 9 a.m., she was taken to a specially designed chute in the zoo's Giraffe House, where she was placed under general anesthesia. She kneeled on all fours as zookeepers gently held her long neck. Gretchen was then hooked up to an IV of barbiturates and fell asleep.

A veterinary pathologist from Johns Hopkins University performed a necropsy on Gretchen's body yesterday before she was cremated.

Gretchen leaves no offspring behind (zoo staff were careful not to breed the giraffe for fear of her passing on the hoof problem), but the herd of four other giraffes at the zoo "will certainly realize that she's gone," Gullott said.

Those four giraffes -- 21-year-old Mary; her two daughters, 14-year-old Angel and 12-year-old Zoe; and a nearly 2-year-old male giraffe named Caesar -- are expected to be a little uneasy as they cope with Gretchen's death. "She was the best giraffe in the world," Gullott said. "I'm a little bit biased, but she was truly a very sweet spirit."