The 12-year-old male Amur tiger, also known as a Siberian tiger, experienced cardiac failure during the procedure to assist with breeding efforts, zoo officials said in a statement. The Amur tiger is on The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species with experts estimating less than 500 Amur tigers living today. In the past 43 years, The Minnesota Zoo has birthed 44 tiger cubs, including a few of Putin’s.
“Despite heroic emergency efforts of veterinarians, animal health technicians, and zookeepers, he did not survive,” the press release read.
Putin the tiger was born in 2005 in the Czech Republic, where he was named, but grew up in the Denmark Zoo. In 2017, he was moved to the Minnesota Zoo.
A zoo spokesperson told Newsweek that it is common practice to keep adult animals’ given names even if they come from other zoological institutions. This is because the animals have a history of responding to that name during training which helps with recall, response, and voluntary participation in care such as 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,” the spokesperson said.
According to Taylor Yaw, the zoo’s chief of animal care, health and conservation, Putin was undergoing a routine “preventative health exam.”
The exam included collecting samples for breeding purposes after recommendations from experts in the field. Specimen collection is of “critical importance” to globally threatened species because it allows for controlled breeding, the zoo said.
“This was a routine procedure that is a vital part of our care and conservation work for tigers,” Yaw said. “We plan weeks ahead for these types of exams.”
Yaw explained that all “necessary precautions” were taken and everyone did everything they could to save the animal but were unsuccessful.
“We’ll continue to learn more in the days and months ahead, and we are grateful for the support of the University of Minnesota’s pathology team for their expertise and support as a necropsy is conducted,” Yaw said.
Amur tigers are known for their thick, light orange coat. The tigers also have a thick mane around their neck and fur on their paws to protect them from cold temperatures.
The majority of Amur tigers can be found living in Russian Far East, with some ranging across the border of China, according to Wildcats Conservation Alliance.
John Frawley, director of the Minnesota Zoo, said the zoo has played a “key role in global tiger conservation” and is currently a co-leader of the Tiger Conservation Campaign which works to raise awareness about tiger conservation.
“Today is an incredibly hard day for all of us at the Minnesota Zoo and we will be mourning for quite some time,” Frawley said. “While this loss is great, we can be proud of our efforts–past, present, and future–to advance tiger conservation worldwide.”
In 2018, an 11-year-old Siberian tiger, also known as a Manchurian or Amur tiger, gave birth to quintuplets at a park in northeast China.
In 2015, a rehabilitated tiger was released into the wild and had her own cubs.
