LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville Zoo is mourning the loss of one of its animals.
According to a news release, Heran, a 16-year-old Sumatran tiger, lost his battle with cancer on Monday.
The zoo says Heran was suffering from B-cell lymphoma and leukemia. As a result, the Zoo made the decision to euthanize him.
"Heran was recognizable and popular with guests due to his missing eye, which gave him a permanent 'winking' appearance," the zoo said in its news release.
According to Zoo officials, Heran arrived at the Louisville Zoo in 2017. Previously, he had been housed at the Illinois Miller Park Zoo. At the time, he had been diagnosed with glaucoma in his right eye and had a mature cataract. To ease his pain, his eye was surgically replaced with a silicone orbital implant. The zoo said he "quickly recovered and acclimated well to his new home."
Sumatran tigers, which are native to Indonesia, are critically endangered. The zoo said Heran was one of only about 75 Sumatran tigers in zoological parks in North America.
"When Heran was diagnosed with cancer, the Zoo faced the tough scenario where they may lose both a beloved animal and an important genetic line in the Sumatran tiger population," the news release stated. "However, Zoo medical staff are hopeful that the animal ambassador's legacy will live on. To preserve Haran's genetic value, the Sumatran Tiger SSP recommended semen collection and gamete rescue as part of the euthanasia plan."
The zoo opted to act on the recommendations.
"The priority is to do the right by the animal in providing compassionate end-of-life care," said Dr. Zoli Gyimesi, senior staff veterinarian, in a statement. "But if we can also do what is right for the population that Heran represented as an ambassador, that's our responsibility as well. We hope that the samples we collected will let Heran sire cubs in the future."
The zoo said tissues collected after Heran was euthanized are also being sent to researchers at two veterinary universities.
One of the researchers is part of an effort to biobank and characterize cancers across zoo species. The other researcher is investigating stem cell therapies for living tigers.
"With every sad loss, we try to maximize what can be learned to benefit future generations of animals," said Zoo Director Dan Maloney, in a statement.
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