Valley Zoo tiger dies from infection

Last Updated: Wednesday, October 29, 2008
CBC News

Boris, a Siberian tiger at Edmonton's Valley Zoo, has died, officials announced Wednesday.

The tiger passed away on Monday from a lower respiratory tract infection.

Zoo veterinarian Dr. Milton Ness said Boris first started showing signs of illness in early October.

They tried different therapies to make him feel better, but the tiger kept relapsing and getting worse.

"Quite honestly, I'm going through the same kind of grief you'd expect when you lose a family member," Ness said. "He's a very special fellow, and especially in the last few of weeks, I spent a lot of time with him .… he will be missed for a long time."

Boris was born at Quebec's Granby Zoo in 1999, and was brought to Edmonton in May 2006 as part of the species survival program set up to breed Siberian tigers and help them thrive in captivity.

After Boris arrived at the Valley Zoo in May 2006, staff quickly discovered the tiger was unresponsive to English, only perking up when a staff member spoke to him in French.

Ness described Boris as a "people" cat.

"He just liked people. He would come up to you, would rub up against the bars much like a cat would, especially when he was hungry," he said. "He had no real aggressive tendencies. He was always very willing to forgive and forget, even when I was giving him injections."

A post-mortem examination will be performed on the tiger, with results available next week.

A new tiger will be coming to the Valley Zoo soon.

The zoo was expecting to get a second tiger through the species survival program this fall, but the transfer was put on hold while Boris was sick. The zoo will now move ahead with the transfer.

Siberian or Amur tigers are a critically endangered species. The numbers of tigers that remain in the wild are estimated to range from 431 to 529, according to the city news release.

With files from the Canadian Press

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/10/29/edm-boris-dies.html