Hong Kong’s Ocean Park has euthanised its 17-year-old endangered red panda Rou Rou after degenerative joint issues and no response to palliative care. The decision spared her unnecessary suffering following five years of geriatric monitoring.
Hong Kong’s Ocean Park has euthanised 17-year-old red panda Rou Rou after she developed degenerative joint problems and stopped responding to palliative care. The park’s animal care and veterinary teams provided comprehensive care and monitored her geriatric conditions for five years, but could not prevent age-related ailments. In recent weeks, Rou Rou showed “increasing signs of discomfort” and “no longer responded to palliative care” the park said on Tuesday. “Following a thorough assessment on her quality of life and welfare, the decision to humanely euthanise Rou Rou to prevent her from suffering unnecessarily was therefore made,” the statement read. “Rou Rou was surrounded by her devoted caretakers in her final moments and passed away peacefully.” Red pandas are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list. They have an average lifespan of eight to 12 years in the wild, with fewer than 10,000 remaining according to estimates.