Adelaide June 29 (IANS) Australia s oldest captive Sumatran tiger has died at the Adelaide Zoo at the age of 22 after veterinarians decided to euthanise her due to critical age-related conditions.
Kemiri was born at Sydney s Taronga Zoo before she was transferred to Adelaide.
A senior veterinarian at the Adelaide Zoo Ian Smith said she lived a long and happy life before kidney troubles and arthritis took a toll forcing vets to undertake the procedure late on Wednesday evening reports Xinhua news agency.
For a number of months Kemiri had been suffering from a number of age-related conditions which the veterinary team had been treating but over the past week her condition deteriorated Smith said in a statement on Thursday.
The veterinary team decided that further medical treatment would not improve Kemiri s quality of life. The difficult decision was made to humanely euthanise her and although this is a sad loss for Adelaide Zoo it was the best thing to do for Kemiri.
Smith said Kemiri lived a life almost twice as long as what s expected for Sumatran tigers in the wild.
The average life expectancy for Sumatran tigers in the wild is about 12 years - and in captivity about 20 years - so to reach 22 is really positive he added.
--IANS
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Australia s oldest captive Sumatran tiger dies
