SALT LAKE CITY — At the age of 48, George the southern white rhino was humanely euthanized Thursday after his health declined in the last few weeks.
Hogle Zoo announced that George was surrounded by his dedicated care and veterinary teams when he passed.
George and his half-sister, Princess, were one of the oldest southern white rhinos in human care and had been a Hogle Zoo resident since 1977. He was said to have enjoyed back-leg scratches and a bucket of his favorite food; bananas.
"When I started at Hogle Zoo over 13 years ago, I had never worked with rhinos. I knew I would quickly fall in love with George and Princess. George's love for attention and scratches was why I started public rhino encounters years ago- I wanted to share my love for him with others." said High Desert Oasis Supervisor Lauren LeCoque. "I am certain hundreds of our guests had amazing and intimate connections with George and Princess. I love people's surprise when I would say, 'Do you want to come scratch him?' I think rhinos get such a bad reputation that it surprised people to hear and see how affectionate and personable they are. He loved to get his back legs scratched and was always down to eat a bucket of bananas, his favorite.”
A postmortem exam was performed to better understand the cause and impacts of caring for rhino wellbeing.
