Little Rock Zoo officials explain beloved elephant Sophie’s diagnosis after she enters hospice care

Little Rock, Arkansas – The news that Sophie the elephant has been placed in hospice care has caused sadness to many of the staff and visitors of the Little Rock Zoo.

“Sophie is one of our most beloved animals here at the Little Rock Zoo,” Little Rock Zoo Director Susan Altrui said.

Sophie chose the Little Rock Zoo for her care because of their experience with elderly elephants. She had recently announced her retirement from the circus act, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Show.

“She came to us about a decade ago with Babe, another elephant that we have here at our zoo,” Altrui said. “Seven years ago, she was diagnosed with a disease called pyometra.”

In the world of elephant veterinary medicine, the fact that the zoo personnel was able to treat her persistent uterine infection for a long time despite her diagnosis is regarded as a medical miracle.

“Most animals who are diagnosed with this disease, they really only live about a year, and she’s been with us for seven years so that’s really incredible and shows the kind of superior care we give these animals,” Altrui said.

Because of her pyometra, which has resulted in a sharp fall in her health throughout her final phases of life, Sophie was placed under hospice care on Monday.

“We’ve been able to keep this disease at bay with antibiotics and other treatments, but unfortunately, the disease has caught up with her, and so we are now in a hospice situation,” Altrui said.

Due to the disease’s progression, she now has a hard mass in her abdomen, her blood protein levels are lower than usual, and she has lost a substantial amount of muscle.

Sophie has outlived previous Asian elephants and is thought to be between 55 and 56 years old. An Asian female elephant such as Sophie often lives to be 47 years old.

Sophie’s caregivers put a lot of effort into assessing her everyday well-being and making sure all of her requirements are satisfied.

“We’re doing everything we can to keep her as comfortable as possible; it’s administering any kinds of pain medications, adding additional bedding in her areas, and letting her go in and out of the area whenever she wants to,” Altrui said. “We are letting her kind of guide the way in terms of what happens next.”

Every day, zoo personnel assess Sophie’s quality of life and weigh her alternatives, which include letting her die naturally or putting her through humane euthanasia.

“You know elephants are highly intelligent,” Altrui said. “She does have Babe who has been with her for many years, and we certainly think that it’s going to be tough on Babe.”

In order to assist Sophie cope with the loss of a buddy, Babe will get to spend time with Sophie’s body; but, in the interim, they are just spending their last days together, cuddling.

“You know we don’t know exactly when it will be, but it will be soon that’s why we want to let the public know about this because she is so beloved,” Altrui said.

In the event that Sophie passes away, the zoo will be closed to the public so that staff members can perform a necropsy, a procedure designed to determine the cause of death and gather samples for study.