Minnesota Zoo dolphin dies at age 44

A bottlenose dolphin at the Minnesota Zoo has died at the age of 44, according to zoo officials.

The zoo reports that the dolphin named April died Tuesday after suffering physical ailments for the past few months. A necropsy, or animal autopsy, will determine the cause of death.

April was the mother of 22-year-old Allie, another dolphin at the Apple Valley zoo, and grandmother of Taijah, born last summer. She had been at the zoo since January 2008 on loan from a Chicago zoo.

The Minnesota Zoo has another dolphin named Semo, who is 45 years old.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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