Walnut, a white-naped crane with a Smithsonian zookeeper as a mate, dies at age 42

Long-lived member of the vulnerable species was coaxed into reproducing by her zookeeper and eventually hatched eight chicks

A great, but odd, love story has come to an end.

Walnut, a white-naped crane and internet celebrity, has died at the age of 42. She is survived by eight chicks, the loving staff at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, and by Chris Crowe - a human zookeeper whom Walnut regarded as her proxy mate for nearly 20 years.