LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- "Etta" the Siberian tiger has died.
In a release, the Louisville Zoo said Marietta was humanely euthanized on Thursday. The Amur tiger was 17.
"It is never easy to say goodbye to one of our animal ambassadors and Etta was precious to us as all of our ambassadors are," said Louisville Zoo Director John Walczak in the release. Etta has a spinal disease that caused her to have trouble walking. She was kept comfortable and free of pain until the end.
Walczak said Etta lived a longer life than she might have in the wild, since Amur tigers are being lost to poaching and habitat loss. The average life expectancy for Amur tigers is just over 14 years.
Marietta moved to the Louisville Zoo in 2008 from the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. She was in rotation at Tiger Taiga with two other tigers -11-year-old male Vikentii and 8-year-old female Sasha.
Amur or Siberian tigers are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The tigers are the largest living felines and are native to eastern Russia, northeastern China and part of the Korean peninsula.
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
