Sad news from Leipzig Zoo: the nine-year-old female koala Mandie is dead. The animal had to be euthanized late Thursday afternoon to spare her further pain and suffering, the zoo announced.
"Since Wednesday evening, her condition deteriorated rapidly, she stopped eating and was lying on the ground unresponsive during the course of Thursday," zoo director Jörg Junhold was quoted as saying in the statement. Blood samples had indicated a massive metabolic disorder.
"Unfortunately, the intensive medical measures no longer had any effect, leaving us with the difficult decision to release her from her suffering," Junhold continued. The zoo hopes that a further examination will shed light on the cause of the disease.
Mandie reportedly came to Leipzig in 2019 and, with her son Bouddi, ensured the first breeding success since the zoo began keeping koalas in 2016. Bouddi was transferred to the Belgian Planckendael Zoo in 2023 on the recommendation of the European Conservation Breeding Program, it added.
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