Pili, Sacramento Zoo’s eldest red panda, dies at 14, officials announce
Pili, the Sacramento Zoo’s eldest red panda, has died, zoo officials announced Tuesday.
Pili was 14 years old. Zoo officials said the panda’s health had declined significantly during the last three weeks after several years of treatment for thyroid issues.
Officials at the Land Park attraction in their Tuesday statement said zoo medical staffers noticed changes in Pili’s behavior along with gastrointestinal issues. Doctors soon turned to Pili’s quality of life, said officials.
“Multiple exams were conducted to identify any treatable issues, however due to her advanced age and limited options for treatment, the conversation shifted to Pili’s quality of life,” the statement read.
Pili was humanely euthanized Friday, zoo officials said. Officials said Pili was “considered elderly for red panda’s typical life span, around 13 years under human care.”
Pili arrived at Sacramento Zoo in 2012, a year after her birth at the Smithsonian National Zoo in 2011. She was introduced to Takeo, a male red panda, later in 2012, and the two were partners until Takeo’s death in 2023, Sacramento Zoo officials said.
Pili lived her remaining months, beginning November of last year, in the outside holding yard at the rear of the red panda habitat.
Zoo officials remembered Pili the red panda as certain of what she wanted, whether it was to train, nap, or snack on her favorite fruit, grapes.
“She was very clear about her preferences,” said Anela Medeiros, lead animal keeper of the team that took care of her. “When she wanted grapes over Craisins, when she wanted to train, when she wanted to be left to nap in her hammock, when the bamboo you cut wasn’t fresh enough for her liking. As long as you respected her preferences, and fed her grapes, she would tolerate your requests.”
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