2023-08-31 08:26:36
Tragic accident
Tiger female Mila was to go to the dentist – a little later she was dead
A tiger died at a Colorado zoo following being drugged. The zoo management, however, makes no reproaches.
Published31. Aug 2023, 10:26 am
These are photos taken by Mila when the tiger was still living with her mother at the Toronto Zoo.
X/@TheTorontoZoo
Female tiger had a hole in her tooth that might have led to a fatal infection.
Staff at a Colorado zoo drugged the animal to administer the treatment.
The animal fell off a bench and was badly injured.
An absurd accident has that Female Siberian tiger cost Mila her life. The animal – of which there are estimated to be only 500 specimens left in the world – had recently been anesthetized for an upcoming dental treatment. After the vets administered the anesthetic to Mila, the two-year-old female tiger climbed onto a bench. From there, however, it fell so unluckily that it suffered a fatal spinal injury.
The management of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo near the US city of Colorado Springs described the accident as a “crazy accident”. Mila was stunned and then “jumped onto a waist-high bench,” it said in a statement on Tuesday. There the animal lay down and “peacefully let the anesthetic work its magic”, according to the zoo staff. Barely a minute had passed before Mila slipped off the bench. She was badly injured on impact.
Animal keepers tried to save Mila’s life
Nurses went into the enclosure “as soon as it was safe for them,” explained Eric Klaphake, the responsible veterinarian. The staff then tried to save the animal for 40 minutes – in vain.
Mila only came to the zoo in Colorado in March of this year. She was born at the Toronto Zoo, where her mother still lives today. “Mila was a spirited and intelligent tiger,” says nurse Rebecca Zwicker. The team trained the female to get used to the indoor and outdoor areas of her enclosure. “She was so close to going outside where the guests might see her.”
Dental infection had to be treated
But recently, the keepers had discovered a serious dental problem in the animal that urgently needed treatment: Mila had a hole in a tooth that, if it hadn’t been treated, would have advanced into the paranasal sinuses, says Zwicker. “If left untreated, infections like this can be deadly for animals.”
The zoo staff doesn’t blame themselves. “It’s a matter of life and death,” says zoo director Bob Chastain. “You can plan and plan and still something goes wrong. Our team administered just the right amount of medication to a very calm tiger that had been training for the moment,” Chastain said. Never before had such an accident happened to the zoo.
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