Officials and staff at Riverside Discovery Center are looking forward to a new year with hope as they mourn the loss of two tigers and two pumas at the facility in less than two months.
Avian influenza has been confirmed to be the cause in the passing this month of male tiger Ussuri, and test results are pending for female tiger Nika, who had to be euthanized last week. Interim Director Hawk Buckman, named to the post Dec. 18, says the cause is anticipated to be the same, but on necropsy, Nika was found to also have ovarian cancer and an enlarged kidney.
Buckman says test results are also still pending for puma Diego, believed to have passed from avian flu with complications from a piece of fire hose found in his digestive system. Buckman says the hose was not left by staff, but previously discovered to have been part of his shredded bedding, which was removed. He says veterinarians also now suspect the avian flu virus may have impacted Mateo, who was euthanized about a month and a half ago after suffering a series of seizures, however, he was never tested.
Buckman says veterinarians also said it was likely Bandit the bear died in May from complications of avian flu. At the time, encephalitis was announced as the cause.
After closure last week, the zoo is back open, but most animals are in quarantine. Buckman says RDC has been working with the Scotts Bluff County Health Department, which has confirmed no threat to the public as the zoo works toward resuming Wild Lights to ring out 2022.
Buckman says a bright spot heading into 2023 is that RDC will be getting a female bear, Finley, from a zoo in Tucson, Arizona as part of the SSP program . He says one requirement is for RDC to provide a bear cage for transport. Jake Aulick and the staff at Aulick Industries are donating fabrication of a cage, with RDC paying for materials, and Aulick would provide transport at their cost.
It will take one or two months of training Finley to walk into and out of the cage before she can make the trip to Scottsbluff. Also needed will be modifications to the current bear exhibit so the bears can be separated on Finley’s arrival, at a cost yet to be determined.
Meanwhile, repairs to a water line break in the zebra pen last week are underway, and donations would be most graciously accepted.
