Photo was taken 23/06/2012

The oldest white rhino in Japan, Cynthia, died of old age at Yagiyama Zoo in Sendai, on January 11.

She was born in South Africa in 1969 and she was 47 years old.

35 years has passed since she arrived to Yagiyama Zoo in 1982, she was truly loved by zoo visitors. The zoo director gave Cynhia a letter of thanks in 2008.

She couldn’t stand 2 days before the morning of her death, zoo staff hanged her body with chains in order to avoid that her weight would press her own internal organs, but she couldn’t survive.

Thanks to teammate Yuko Imaizumi for the article.