CHICAGO (AP) — An 83-year-old cockatoo named “Cookie” and a popular feature at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo going back to the 1930s has died.
The Chicago Zoological Society operates the zoo and it announced the death of the Major Mitchell’s cockatoo in a statement Monday.
The statement says the white and pink bird with a red and yellow crest was one of the oldest living cockatoos on record. It had also been the last surviving animal from the Brookfield Zoo’s original collection. It arrived at age 1 from Australia’s Taronga Zoo.
One society official, Michael Adkesson, says Cookie’s health abruptly declined Saturday, leading to the decision to euthanize the bird. Adkesson says Cookie suffered from many of the same ailments humans face as they get older. That includes osteoporosis, arthritis and cataracts.
