Zoo loses two of its popular tigers to advanced disease

Two tigers, rescued more than 10 years ago from a private business that was using them for photo ops, died Tuesday at the Oakland Zoo.

Sisters Molly and Milou, both suffering from advanced illnesses, were euthanized when it became apparent they were suffering.

“We have extremely sad news to share with you,” the Oakland Zoo said in a release. “Today we had to say goodbye to tiger sisters Molly and Milou, who have been part of our Oakland Zoo family for the past 10 years.”

Molly, Milou and their sisters, Ginger and Grace, were bred by private owners in Texas, taken prematurely from their mother and then used as photo props for people to pose with for a fee, an enterprise known as the tiger-petting industry.

Once the tigers grew too big to handle, they were no longer profitable to their owners and suffered from neglect, zoo officials say. The tigers eventually were rescued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and were scheduled to be euthanized — a fate that awaits many privately owned wild animals.

The Oakland Zoo stepped in to take all four tigers, and the quartet joined the zoo’s menagerie in October 2011. Molly and Milou were the last members of the family. Grace died in September 2019, and Ginger died in August.

For the past decade, the tigers have served as ambassadors for their breed, their story helping zoo visitors learn the sad truth behind tiger petting and the exotic pet industry that victimized them.

The health of the tigers had been declining, likely the result of inbreeding and the poor care received from their previous owners. The two had advanced kidney disease and debilitating arthritis. The zoo’s vet team recently discovered Milou had a cancerous tumor that had spread and was inoperable.

According to the statement, animal care and veterinary staff “made the extremely difficult decision to end their suffering and euthanize both tigers.”

Zoo officials said they are heartbroken to lose the two tigers but are grateful the zoo was able to give them a home for so many years.

COURTESY OF OAKLAND ZOO Molly and Milou, the last of four sisters brought to the Oakland Zoo in 2011, were euthanized Tuesday, Nov. 9, because of advanced illness.