MN Zoo: Putin the tiger dies after heart fails during medical procedure – St. Paul Pioneer Press

A tiger died on Wednesday during a medical procedure, the Minnesota Zoo announced Thursday.

Its with heavy hearts that we share that on Wednesday, during a routine medical procedure, the Zoos 12-year-old male Amur tiger experienced cardiac failure, a news release states. Despite heroic emergency efforts of veterinarians, animal health technicians and zookeepers, he did not survive.

This is a profound loss.

Amur tigers, historically known as Siberian tigers, are native to the Russian Far East and neighboring areas of China. The name change reflects a portion of its current wild habitat range along the Amur River, according to the Minnesota Zoo. The Amur tiger is an endangered species, with fewer than 500 believed to remain in the wild. There are approximately 103 of these tigers in accredited zoos. The median life expectancy for tigers, both in the wild and in zoos, is approximately 14 to 16, according to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA).

Of this tigers origins, the Minnesota Zoo says that he was born at a zoo in the Czech Republic in 2009, where he was given the name Putin. He spent his first six years at a zoo in Denmark before coming to the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley in 2015 via Delta Airlines.

More recently, in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tigers name was a talking point since its assumed he is named after Russian president Vladimir Putin.

It is common practice to maintain the given names of adult animals that come from other zoological institutions because the animals have a history of responding to names during daily training sessions, said Zach Nugent, a zoo spokesman, in an email. Training is used to encourage recall, response, and voluntary participation in day-to-day care, enrichment activities and medical procedures. In light of recent global events, the Zoo team had discussed a change to his name but had not done so yet as he was responsive to his name and it is an important part of his training, welfare and care.

Back in 2015, Putin was brought to the Minnesota Zoo as a recommendation of the Amur Tiger Global Species Management Plan.

His genetically important legacy lives on as he has sired multiple cubs, including one born in 2017 at the Minnesota Zoo, the Minnesota Zoo said in its statement.

That cub, Vera, was born on April 26, 2017, to Sundari, an Amur tiger who had also been born at the Minnesota Zoo, in 2012. Sundari, now 9 years old, still lives at the Minnesota Zoo, while Vera was transferred to Omahas zoo in Nebraska in 2019.

Putin was considered one of the most genetically valuable Amur tigers in a North American breeding program, according to the news release about Veras birth.

It was in part because of that role thatPutin was undergoing a preventative health exam that included the collection of samples to assist with breeding efforts at the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Amur Tiger Species Survival Plan.

So what happened?

This was a routine procedure that is a vital part of our care and conservation work for tigers, said Dr. Taylor Yaw, the Minnesota Zoos Chief of Animal Care, Health and Conservation, in the statement. We plan weeks ahead for these types of exams. All necessary precautions were taken, and the team did everything within their power to save this animal.

A full medical and animal care team was present throughout the entire procedure at the Zoo, Nugent said. It was led by four board-certified specialists in zoological medicine including a veterinarian certified in both zoological medicine and emergency and critical care medicine; in addition, there were animal health technicians and the animal care team on hand.

The team worked tirelessly for more than an hour administering CPR, Nugent said, but despite their rescue efforts, cardiac ultrasound revealed the left-side of the heart was no longer functional.

A necropsy, another term for autopsy, is being conducted at the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab at the University of Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Zoo.

Well continue to learn more in the days and months ahead, Yaw said in the statement.

Meanwhile, those who knew Putin are grieving.

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 in the statement. Our Zoo has played a key role in global tiger conservation throughout our history and we currently are co-leaders of the Tiger Conservation Campaign, which has raised millions of dollars for tiger conservation. While this loss is great, we can be proud of our efforts past, present, and future to advance tiger conservation worldwide.

Info: Learn more about the Tiger Conservation Campaign, co-led by the Minnesota Zoo, at Support.mnzoo.org/tigercampaign.

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MN Zoo: Putin the tiger dies after heart fails during medical procedure - St. Paul Pioneer Press