‘A day with heavy hearts’ for zoo lovers: San Diego Zoo’s beloved polar bear, giraffe matriarch have died

They were visitor favorites at San Diego Zoo, where they lived for well more than two decades. Kalluk, a 24-year-old polar bear, had arrived after he’d been orphaned as a cub. And Nicky, a 28-year-old giraffe, was said to be the oldest Masai giraffe in North America.

Both beloved animals have died, the zoo announced Friday. Kalluk was of an advanced age and suffering kidney failure, and Nicky was showing signs of advanced age. Each was compassionately euthanized Thursday. Greg Vicino, vice president of wildlife care at San Diego Zoo, called it “a day with heavy hearts.”

SeaWorld San Diego also announced sad news Friday, sharing that a walrus names Basilla, known to park attendees as Basa, had died. At 42, SeaWorld says she was among the oldest walruses in human care. A spokesperson said she had “displayed sudden intestinal issues last week and passed quickly surrounded by her care team and veterinarians.”

Both organizations spoke of the research advances into the animal species that each of the three ambassador animals helped provide.

Monitoring of Kalluk, for example, helped stumped researchers discern how polar bears were able to find each other over the vast and apparently featureless Arctic tundra, said Megan Owen, vice president of wildlife conservation science for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The answer: They leave scent in their paw prints — a scented trail. “It was fascinating,” she said Friday. “It was just incredible to see.”

Owen — who has monitored the species in the Arctic wild — said monitoring Kalluk at the zoo also helped with better understanding polar bears’ body weight and fat stores, and therefore conservation efforts to protect them. All of it, she said is “a critically important part of his legacy.”

Kalluk came in at roughly 10 feet tall and 1,100 pounds, “extraordinarily tall” and “one of the biggest male polar bears I have seen,” she said. He was a “big, strong polar bear. But he also just had this very gentle nature.”

He and his sister Tatqiq came to the zoo in 2001 after researchers tracking their mother could no longer find her and raced to rescue the orphaned cubs. The siblings moved in with Chinook, who’d landed at San Diego Zoo as an orphaned cub in 1996.

In a social media posting Friday, the zoo described Kalluk as having “calm strength within the trio, with an inquisitive and adventurous nature.”

Earlier this year, after video of him panting and drooling went a bit viral, zoo officials said he was exhibiting breeding behavior. Kalluk had wooed Chinook over the years, but their match did not produce any cubs.

Over the last few weeks, changes in behavior prompted a medical examination, and the subsequent decision to euthanize him.

“After his passing, Tatqiq and Chinook were given the opportunity to say their goodbyes,” the zoo said in the posting. “Being with them in this moment reminded us that the feeling of loss transcends species, and our team remains committed to supporting them through this transition.”

San Diego Zoo was also the longtime home of popular giraffe Nicky, the matriarch and oldest member of the herd.

In announcing her death on Instagram, the zoo said Nicky was a “steadfast matriarch” who watched over the herd “with unwavering devotion, embodying wisdom and grace in every interaction.”

The posting also said Nicky “lovingly” raised five calves, including Chifu, a male giraffe who fathered Madoadoa. The baby — Nicky’s grandson — was born at San Diego Zoo last month.

Vicino said the zoo “makes a commitment to the animals from birth to death” and works very seriously to ensure they are healthy and thriving throughout, and that they don’t suffer at the end of their lives when the prognosis is poor.

“That’s part of our obligation,” Vicino said. “It’s always painful, but we kind of look at the legacy, and we hope that we’ve accomplished our mission, which is just making every aspect of their life — from the early parts to the end parts — as excellent as possible.”

Over the last week, Nicky’s health had declined significantly. Vicino said the giraffe was humanely euthanized in a behind-the-scenes slice of her habitat, allowing her herd to understand that she was dead and not just missing.

At SeaWorld, staffers and guests alike are mourning the loss of Basa. She had joined SeaWorld’s huddle in 2019, moving there from Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Wash.

“Since then, she has called our Wild Arctic exhibit home, where she formed deep bonds with her dedicated zoological team, communicating through sound, smell, and touch,” SeaWorld said in announcing her death. “Just behind her love for those connections was her daily nap time, which she never missed and always made endearing.”

SeaWorld said Basa also played a role in conservation research and most recently was part of a study that helps scientists assess body conditions of walruses in the wild.

“Her team, and all who knew her over the years, will miss her tremendously,” SeaWorld said.