Bloomington's Miller Park Zoo euthanizes red panda and Pallas's cat after separate illnesses

Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington has euthanized two of its animals, a red panda named China and a Pallas’s cat named Nozomi, after each suffered from a separate illness, the zoo said.^{1, 2} The zoo announced the deaths Friday, WGLT reported.¹

China was diagnosed in July with an incurable adrenal disorder known to affect red pandas, according to the zoo.^{1, 2} She improved for a time with medication and close veterinary monitoring, but her health declined rapidly last week, 25 News Now reported, citing zoo staff.² She was born July 17, 2017, according to WGLT.¹

Nozomi had been receiving veterinary care for neurological symptoms since early July, and her health kept declining despite the staff’s efforts to diagnose and treat her, the zoo said.² She was born April 20, 2017, at the Red River Zoo in Fargo, North Dakota, and later lived in Miller Park’s ZooLab, where she became a favorite of visitors, zoo staff said.^{1, 2}

Plans for the exhibits

Both animals were part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, WGLT reported.¹ The zoo said it plans to bring in another red panda through that program and has no plans to add another Pallas’s cat.^{1, 2}

Red pandas are endangered, threatened by habitat loss, poaching and illegal capture, according to the zoo.^{1, 2} They are native to high-elevation forests from Nepal to China and typically live 12 to 15 years in human care, the zoo said.² Pallas’s cats, native to mountain shrublands and grasslands across Asia, typically live 8 to 11 years in captivity.^{1, 2} Both animals were 9 years old, WGLT reported.¹