A cougar that has been an “incredible presence” at an area zoo for nearly a decade has died, in accordance with Zoo New England’s Stone Zoo.
Blue the cougar was euthanized over the weekend after he reportedly suffered a number of seizures, and he was not responding to treatment. Blue was 9 years previous.
“We are completely heartbroken to share this news about Blue,” mentioned John Linehan, Zoo New England’s president and CEO. “He has been an unbelievable presence at Stone Zoo since he arrived as a really younger cub.
“Guests had the opportunity to watch Blue grow up, and we know there are many people who love him as much as we do,” Linehan added. “This is an incredibly sad day, and we appreciate everyone who is keeping our animal care team in their thoughts.”
Blue started experiencing seizures a number of months in the past and had responded effectively to remedy, in accordance with employees on the Stoneham zoo.
But inside his last 24 hours, Blue skilled a number of seizures and was not responding to treatment. Staff determined to euthanize him as a result of frequency and severity of the seizures, his quickly declining well being, and a poor prognosis for his high quality of life.
In 2014, the tiny 5-pound cub was discovered alone close to Salmon, Idaho. Officials on the time decided it will not be potential to efficiently return him to the wild due to his younger age.
He wanted a house, and employees at Stone Zoo traveled to Idaho to deliver Blue to his new residence in Massachusetts.
Once he was large enough, company bought to observe him discover his nursery house at Stone Zoo. When he outgrew this house, he settled into his everlasting residence inside the Treasures of the Sierra Madre part of the zoo. Blue cherished to roll round pumpkins, and he additionally loved totally different scents, together with ginger powder and pumpkin pie spice.
“With cougars, their aloofness makes them so endearing, and Blue took this to another level,” mentioned Pete Costello, Stone Zoo’s assistant curator. “Blue was one of my favorites, and he will be greatly missed not only by me, but by everyone who knew him.”
One of the most important of the wild cats in North America, the cougar is often known as a panther, painter, mountain lion, puma and catamount.
Although the cougar’s U.S. vary has diminished all through the final century, they nonetheless have the widest distribution of any land mammal within the Western Hemisphere.
They vary from the Yukon in Canada via the western portion of the U.S., and a small portion of the japanese U.S. to Patagonia. Cougars are present in all habitats from lowlands to mountainous areas and from deserts to tropical forests.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”