Veterinarians first noticed Tuan Tuan, an 18-year-old panda, was ill three months ago when he increasingly became lethargic.
Tuan Tuan is one of the two giant pandas given to Taiwan by China in 2008, a time when ties between the two nations were still cordial.
Yuan Yuan, his breeding mate, later on gave birth to two female cubs named Yuan Zaibap in 2013 and Yuan Bao in 2020.
Scans showed Tuan Tuan had brain lesion so doctors had to give him an anti-seizure medication. However, seizures continued and no other choice was left but to put him in an induced coma.
“Our medical team has confirmed that Tuan Tuan’s heart stopped beating at 13.48 (0548 GMT),” Taipei Zoo said in a statement.
veterinarians checking on a sick Tuan Tuan last October.
Despite said treatments, Tuan Tuan’s team decided to let him “continue to sleep” after results indicated that his condition was “irreversible” and that he could no longer “live a quality life.”
Eric Tsao, CEO of the Conservation and Research Center of Taipei Zoo, added that it would have been “extremely painful and risky” for Tuan Tuan to be resuscitated from anesthesia.
China usually only lends pandas to foreign zoos, which must usually return any offspring within a few years of their birth to join the country’s breeding program. Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan were exceptions.
According to the Associate Press, the average life span for pandas in the wild is 15 to 20 years, while they can live for 30 years or more under human care.
Pandas are native to south-western China. They rarely reproduce. They subsist almost exclusively on a diet of bamboo, eating it at 26 to 84 pounds a day.