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Ruby, a former African elephant that had lived in the Los Angeles Zoo for 20 years, has died at age 50, zoo officials announced on Thursday.
Ruby died Tuesday, nearly four years after being moved to a sanctuary in San Andreas, California in 2007. A necropsy will be performed at the University of California at Davis, officials said.
At 50 years of age, Ruby was one of the oldest African elephants in captivity, according to the zoo.
"Ruby became the respected and beloved matriarch of the group of the next few years, and was often seen on top of the hill, ears flared, guarding her companions with the fierce determination of a wild elephant matriarch," the zoo said in a statement.
The animal, born on February 18, 1961, first arrived at the Los Angeles Zoo from Circus Vargas in 1987 and gained worldwide attention in 2003, when the zoo separated her from an Asian elephant named Gita, her companion of 16 years, and sent her to a zoo in Knoxville, Tennessee. The then-Mayor Jim Hahn then asked the zoo to bring her back as she didn't get along well with her new companions there.
The female elephant soon became a focal point of debate at the zoo over the housing of elephants after her return in 2004, as animal rights activists pushing for her to be moved to a sanctuary.
In May 2007, the elephant was transported to the 2,300-acre (931 hectare) Performing Animal Welfare Society Elephant Sanctuary, where she lived with three other African elephants in retirement.
"Everyone who worked with Ruby was mesmerized by her beautiful eyes and her gentle disposition," zoo officials said in the statement.
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