By The newspaper
Aug 31, 2023, 01:42 AM EDT
A 2-year-old Amur tigress named Mila lost her life due to a fall while being prepped for dental surgery at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.
Mila, who had arrived at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo from the Toronto Zoo in March, was preparing for dental surgery to address a serious dental problem, NBC-affiliated 9 News reports.
During the process, the tigress voluntarily received an initial anesthetic injection and lay back on a bench for the drugs to take effect. One minute after lying down, she slipped off the bench and sustained a fatal spinal injury. Despite the immediate efforts of the zoo’s medical team, which lasted around 40 minutes, she Mila could not be saved.
According to 9 News, Dr. Eric Klaphake, chief veterinarian at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, said the team was faced with an impossible decision: anesthetize Mila despite the risks to necessary dental care or potentially risk her safety.
“Given the short period from when she lay down to when she slipped, it was impossible from a life safety standpoint to stop her tragic fall,” the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo said in a news release, according to the outlet.
The Colorado Springs Zoo said it is focused on preventing any similar accidents from happening in the future.
“We feel a great responsibility for all the animals in our care, and we feel especially sorry for Mila, her current and past keepers, and the people of Toronto who loved her from birth as the sole survivor of her litter,” the zoo added. .
Amur tigers are critically endangered with only around 500 left in the wild and 100 in zoos and aquariums.
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