Zoo Won’t Reopen Exhibit After Mass Stingray Deaths
CHICAGO, July 14 (UPI) — All of the stingrays in Brookfield Zoo’s temporary stingray exhibit in Chicago died last week when oxygen levels in their aquatic habitat dropped to devastating levels.
Exactly 50 cownose stingrays and four southern stingrays were lost on July 10 due to a mysterious technical malfunction. According to the zoo, veterinary staff worked to provide medical treatment to the animals almost immediately, but they were too late.
“We are devastated by the tragic loss of these animals,” Chicago Zoological Society Vice President Bill Zeigler said in a statement. “Our staff did everything possible to try and save the animals, but the situation could not be reversed.” All of the animals were born in captivity, CNN reports.
The stingray exhibit has been operating every summer since 2007, but will remain closed for the remainder of the season.
Officials are currently investigating the cause of the problem, the statement read.
Zeigler told USA Today that no decision has been made about opening the interactive exhibit again next summer. It is currently being deconstructed and tested, he said.
Spokeswoman Sondra Katzen told CNN over the weekend this wasn’t the first time the exhibit experienced problems.
“We had a malfunction of a different type back in 2008,” she said. “It was a water temperature increase, and the exhibit temperature increased about 10 degrees, and we lost about 16 stingrays in that.”
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