![\"Orana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/siak-the-otter-Z2BAHPUFSVCYRHYPN6SQQFGQUU.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAuckland Zoo has farewelled its matriarch giraffe, Rukiya, who was euthanised due to age-related health issues.<\/p>\n
The matriarch of the giraffe herd, Rukiya, was nearly 25 years old and facing conditions such as osteoarthritis, limiting her mobility and causing her to rely on medication.<\/p>\n
Veterinary services manager for Auckland Zoo, Dr James, said in a statement on their Facebook page that while unfortunate, euthanasia was the best course of action for the giraffe.<\/p>\n
“While we have been able to keep Rukiya comfortable with medication and provide some short-term relief, ultimately, it\u2019s not possible to reverse age-related conditions,” he explained.<\/p>\n
“As animal healthcare professionals, we have a responsibility to make compassionate and timely evidence-based welfare decisions that are in the best interests of the animals in our care.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Orana WIldlife Park’s otter Siak. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, yesterday, Orana Wildlife Park said farewell to Siak, a member of its otter family.<\/p>\n
Siak was found to have an undisclosed lump on his neck, which affected his eating and breathing.<\/p>\n
Orana vets said in a statement on their social media that they monitored the mass but, upon further tests, found the damage was too extensive to cure.<\/p>\n
“The difficult but kindest decision was made to humanely euthanise Siak, ensuring he did not suffer.<\/p>\n
“Siak is remembered fondly by his dedicated carers as an incredibly vocal otter, with a distinctive little whine that let everyone know exactly what he was thinking. Whether he had a mouth full of food or not, he always seemed to have something to say.”<\/p>\n
Orana Wildlife Park assured they would be closely monitoring the rest of the otters following Siak’s death, making sure they are cared for during their mourning process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Auckland Zoo has farewelled its matriarch giraffe, Rukiya, who was euthanised due to age-related health issues. The matriarch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[50,1389,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-531621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-animals","tag-conservation","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}