A tiger named Putin at the Minnesota Zoo died unexpectedly after experiencing cardiac failure during a routine medical procedure.
Putin, 12, died on Wednesday after “heroic emergency efforts” from veterinarians, animal technicians and zookeepers, according to a press release from the zoo.
“Today is an incredibly hard day for all of us at the Minnesota Zoo and we will be mourning for quite some time,” said Minnesota Zoo Director John Frawley said in the release. “While this loss is great, we can be proud of our efforts – past, present, and future – to advance tiger conservation worldwide.”
Putin was an Amur tiger, also known as Siberian tiger, born in 2009 in the Czech Republic. He was brought to the Minnesota Zoo in 2015 after living in the Denmark Zoo for six years.
According to the release, Putin assisted in breeding efforts for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Amur Tiger Species Survival Plan. He sired multiple cubs, including one born at the Minnesota Zoo in 2017.
Amur tigers are listed as a threatened species in the IUCN Red List and 95% of their population lives in eastern Russia, according to the Russian Geographical Society.
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They are the largest species of tigers in the world and can live up to 18 years in the wild and 25 years in captivity.
The Minnesota Zoo said the routine medical procedure was necessary for the care and conservation work for tigers and was planned weeks in advance.
” All necessary precautions were taken, and the team did everything within their power to save this animal,” Taylor Yaw, the zoo’s chief of animal care, health and conservation, said in the release.
Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.
