Choking On Beef, Seven-month-old Tiger Cub In South Korea Zoo Dies

Gangsan tiger cub. (Source: Everland Resort via Korea Times)

JAKARTA - A seven-month-old tiger cub born and raised in a South Korean zoo died on January 8 after choking on its own food.

A tigress cub named 'Gangsan' eats beef left in its enclosure at Zootopia, a large-scale amusement park, Everland Resort, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

Shortly thereafter, a guard at the facility noticed the cub suddenly began to move more lethargic than before and realized he was not breathing normally, citing the Korea Times Jan. 10.

The cub was immediately taken to a separate confinement area from its four siblings, where it received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Despite the procedure, the tiger cub died at the scene.

Veterinarians at the zoo performed an autopsy on Gangsan and sent the results and video footage, to a professor at the Seoul National University School of Veterinary Medicine, for further confirmation of the child's cause of death.

The following response returned to the zoo: respiratory failure due to sudden airway obstruction while eating.

The zoo said the "unusual" incident occurred because the facility had tried to raise the endangered cub as naturally as possible, by asking Gangsan's mother to look after the cub and improve the environment in which the animals were kept.

Gangsan is the youngest of five cubs born naturally at the zoo in June 2021. It is rare for a tiger to give birth to more than three cubs at once. Gangsan's parents gave birth to two other children in 2020.

After Gangsan's death, the zoo declared the three days to January 11 the official memorial period for dead tiger cubs. The facility has also decided to adapt a certain program for visitors involving tigers scheduled for this month, in commemoration of this year's zodiac symbol, the black tiger.

To note, the zoo was certified as an ex-situ conservation agency by the Korean Ministry of the Environment in 2003, and has participated in the country's international program to revive the species, which is still believed to live near the Tumen River on the China-North Korea border. , since 2018.