Rare tiger named ‘Putin’ dies at Minnesota zoo during health exam. ‘This loss is great’

An Amur tiger named “Putin” died during a “preventative health exam” that involved collecting samples to assist with breeding efforts of the rare species, according to the Minnesota Zoo.

While undergoing what was described as a “routine medical procedure” on March 23, zoo officials say the 12-year-old tiger went into heart failure.

“Despite heroic emergency efforts of veterinarians, animal health technicians, and zookeepers, he did not survive,” the Minnesota Zoo said in a March 24 news release.

The zoo says the exam that “Putin” was undergoing is vital in conserving the threatened species through the Amur Tiger Species Survival Plan.

“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,” the zoo said in the release. “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.”

“Putin” joined the animals at the Minnesota Zoo in 2015 after six years at the Denmark Zoo, officials said. He was born in 2009 in the Czech Republic, where he was given his name.

A spokesperson told McClatchy News the zoo’s team was discussing changing his name following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, “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 zoo says it is common to keep the given names of adult animals when they come from other zoological institutions as the animals can respond to their names during training sessions.

“Putin” the tiger’s legacy will live on, the zoo said, as he sired several cubs before his death.

“While this loss is great, we can be proud of our efforts – past, present, and future – to advance tiger conservation worldwide,” said Minnesota Zoo Director John Frawley in the release.

The Minnesota Zoo has helped birth 44 tiger cubs since it first got tigers 40 years ago, according to the news release. Experts estimate there are 103 Amur tigers in North America zoos accredited with the Association of Zoos and Aquarium and less than 500 Amur tigers living in the wild.

Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, roam eastern Russia and Asia, according to the WildCats Conservation Alliance. The species was close to going extinct in the 1940s “due to decades of almost continual political instability with the Russian Revolution and the formation of the Soviet Union,” the alliance said, but in 1947, Russia was the “first country to ban tiger hunting.”

The Minnesota Zoo says the poaching of tigers continues to threaten the species, in addition to habitat loss.

The WildCats Conservation Alliance says Amur tigers typically live 10 to 15 years in the wild and up to 20 years in captivity.

Another tiger attack reported in Florida, this time at Everglades tourist attraction

Saber-toothed cat-like species identified in fossils found decades ago in California

Man scaled zoo fences around enclosure to see tiger’s reaction, Massachusetts cops say