An old tiger that had lived most of its life at the Alaska Zoo has passed, the zoo announced on Facebook on Sunday.
The Amur tiger, which was given the name Korol, died due to complications from old age. He was 19. Korol and his brother Kunali were born in 2004 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in New York and arrived at their permanent Alaska Zoo home in 2008, the zoo said. Kunali is still at the zoo.
“Korol was lucky to have lived his entire life with his brother and we feel honored to have had the privilege of caring for him. He helped us to educate thousands of visitors about his critically endangered species. To say he is missed is an understatement. There is a huge hole in our hearts but we will do our best to continue caring for Kunali and all of the zoo animals,” the zoo’s statement said.
The Amur tiger, Panthera tigris altaica, is also also known as a Siberian tiger, and is the largest cat in the world. The most recent International Union for Conservation of Nature “Red List” assessment is that the tiger is an endangered species. There are said to be between 3,726 and 5,578 of these tigers, not counting cubs. Their range is from the Russian Far East and Northeast China to possibly North Korea.
Photo credit: Alaska Zoo Facebook page
Anyone know what the average life expectancy of this species of cat is ……in the wild?
Denver Zoo says 15 years in the wild, 20-25 in captivity.
Thank you, Suzanne. Good for the Anchorage zoo to give this cat 5 more years of life. I wonder what the annual cost is to house and feed a cat this size for one year?
Tough Alaskan cat.
What a life, die in a cage @ a zoo!
Better than getting gored by a rhino or dropped dead by a trophy hunter’s bullet. Young people become educated at zoos. Life span is stretched out at a zoo.
Always hated zoo’s, animals being jailed for the pleasure of humans who hate to be in jail., sick.
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