Memphis Zoo is saying goodbye to one of its most beloved residents, Tyranza the elephant who died Friday Sept. 4, 2020. Visitors are paying their respects by leaving cards and flowers at the elephant statue on the zoo’s front plaza.

At age 56 she set the record for longest-lived African elephant in North America, zoo officials said.

Ty, as her friends called her, was born in the wild in 1964, where it is believed she was orphaned. After a short stint as a circus elephant with Ringling Brothers, she was retired to Memphis Zoo in 1977.

Zoo officials believe members of Tyranza’s herd are mourning the loss of their matriarch. 

The zoo’s chief zoological officer Matt Thompson said, “Elephants are both extremely intelligent and extremely social. They have been observed mourning deceased members of their herd in the wild. We expect to see the same behavior.”

Houston Winbigler, a retired animal keeper at the zoo, had a soft spot for Ty. After all, he cared for her for close to 40 years before his retirement. Winbigler knew how to make Tyranza purr, where she liked to be scratched (her tongue), and how her mind worked when it came to a sense of fairness amidst the elephant herd. 

Animal conservationist Dan Ashe said poaching and wildlife trafficking are decimating elephant populations in Africa. “Much of the ivory illegally harvested from these elephants ends up in the hands of American consumers, or passes through our ports on the way to Asia and other parts of the world,” Ashe said. “The Memphis Zoo and other accredited zoos and aquariums across the nation play a key role in educating visitors about the problem and how their choices as consumers affect elephants and other imperiled wildlife.”