MIAMI – A tiger seen by millions of visitors at Zoo Miami has been euthanized.
“Berani,” a Sumatran Tiger who was part of the zoo for 15 years, was euthanized Thursday, Zoo Miami Communications Director Ron Magill announced in a press release Friday.
Recommended Videos
For the past several days, Berani had been in “serious condition” following his loss of appetite, which raised concern in the Animal Science and Animal Health teams at the zoo, the press release stated.
Berani was immobilized and transported to the zoo’s animal hospital so that he could undergo a series of exams to determine if a serious health issue was the cause of his abnormal behavior, according to Magill.
Zoo Miami officials determined that Berani was extremely anemic and dehydrated.
A series of procedures including radiographs, ultrasounds, blood and urine collection, and an endoscopy, were performed, according to Magill. Those procedures also revealed an enlarged spleen as well as abnormalities of the kidneys.
However, the Animal Health team needed to await the results of additional tests to be better able to diagnose what may be the cause of those abnormalities, zoo officials said.
Late Thursday afternoon, test results revealed the “heartbreaking” news that Berani was suffering from cancer of the spleen, according to Magill.
“Sadly, due to his advanced age and an extremely poor prognosis for any improvement, the very difficult decision was made to humanely euthanize him to provide him the dignity in death that he displayed throughout his life,” said Magill.
Berani was born at the San Francisco Zoo in March of 2008 and came to Zoo Miami from the Montgomery Zoo in Alabama in 2013 as part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommendation, according to Zoo Miami officials.
At over 15 years old, Berani was considered to be an older tiger after Magill said that the lifespan of a tiger is usually between ages 10-15.
Berani was paired with a female named Leeloo and successfully created a male cub named, Satu in 2015 along with a female cub named, Ndari in 2021.
The zoo said they will soon be announcing something much more uplifting that will only add to Berani’s “magnificent” legacy.
Zoo officials believe there are less than 500 Sumatran tigers left in the wild where they are found in forested areas on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
Magill said Sumatrans are the smallest subspecies of tiger with males reaching up to 300 pounds and females closer to 200 pounds. Zoo Miami is one of the very few zoos in the world that has had success reproducing this critically endangered species.