How Zoo Knoxville’s last elephant will be honored, and are more elephants coming?
Tonka was one of the most beloved animals ever at Zoo Knoxville. The 46-year-old elephant lived at the zoo for 43 years and was its last remaining elephant. Tonka was euthanized May 8 and leaves a legacy that will not be forgotten.
“In perhaps what is the most powerful remembrance possible, his memory will live on with the generations of Knoxvillians who are sharing their stories of the ways he touched them,” Tina Rolen, a Zoo Knoxville spokesperson, told Knox News in an email.
Tributes to Tonka were shared on social media after Zoo Knoxville announced his death May 9.
“We are awed and humbled at the outpouring of sympathy from our community,” Rolen said, noting the support has been a great comfort for the grieving zookeepers and staff.
How Tonka will remain a part of Zoo Knoxville
Tonka was cared for by a team from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Experts performed a necropsy to help better understand and advance the care of elephants.
Some of Tonka's remains have been interred on Zoo Knoxville grounds and some bone and tissue were sent to the veterinary college for post-mortem pathology and study, Rolen said. The rest of Tonka’s remains will be dissolved.
“At all times, his remains will be treated with respect and dignity,” Rolen added.
Will Zoo Knoxville get more elephants?
Tonka was the last elephant at Zoo Knoxville.
With some modifications, the Stokely African Elephant Preserve at the zoo will become the home of a new herd of Southern white rhinoceroses, Rolen said. They will join Dolly, the white African rhino at the zoo.
Why did Tonka die?
Tonka’s health rapidly declined in the days before he died, and his care team made the decision to transition him to hospice care.
“It was our responsibility to ensure he left this world with grace and dignity, which is why he was humanely euthanized in a quiet barn with his care team by his side,” Rolen said.
His veterinary team had been managing chronic conditions common in older elephants. He suddenly developed acute pain and swelling in his front leg, which was treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and pain medication. But once all treatment options had been performed, hospice care became the best option for the aging and ailing elephant.
The initial plan had been to move Tonka to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. However, his health declined before his barn was completed at the sanctuary in Hohenwald.
Tonka would have joined Edie, one of two African elephants previously at Zoo Knoxville that were moved to the sanctuary in 2023. Jana, the other elephant moved there from Zoo Knoxville, was euthanized at the sanctuary in October.
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter @dturner1208.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tonka, Zoo Knoxville’s last elephant, dies
