An African elephant who was living at the Toronto Zoo has died after she was knocked over by a more dominant elephant in the herd.
Tessa, who was brought to the Toronto Zoo from the wild in 1974, died Saturday. She was in her 40th year.
"Tessa was a weaker member of the herd and enjoyed a life expectancy longer than would have happened in the wild," said Eric Cole, supervisor of the African Savanna exhibit, in a news release.
"Ordinarily, Tessa managed to avoid the activities of the more dominant elephants but in this incident, was caught off guard and tripped over."
After she was hit, Tessa was unable to stand on her own. Staff at the zoo tried to get her to stand using the support of heavy equipment but she was unable to regain her balance.
Zoo officials said that Tessa was kept comfortable with water and food while she was being tended to.
The zoo called the incident "unfortunate and sad," saying that Tessa was "the gentlest of the elephants."
A burial will take place on the zoo grounds.
