WASHINGTON - A 23-year-old male Andean bear died during an emergency veterinary exam at the Smithsonian's National Zoo on October 24.
Cisco was born in 1993, and on September 2013, he came to the National Zoo on loan from the Queens Zoo in New York.
In a statement from Smithsonian's National Zoo:
"In the past week, Cisco became less active and began breathing more heavily with an occasional cough. Those signs worsened over the weekend and his appetite declined, which prompted keepers and veterinarians to move an exam scheduled for later this week to Monday morning."
Veterinaries performed a chest ultrasound which revealed large amounts of fluid in his lungs. Additionally, abnormal soft-tissue masses were present within his chest cavity.
"The team performed an emergency thoracentesis to remove the fluid from his chest to help improve his breathing. It was at that point that Cisco developed cardiopulmonary arrest. Due to his grave prognosis, the team made the decision not to resuscitate Cisco, and let him humanely pass pain-free and quietly," said the Smithsonian's National Zoo.
A final pathology report will provide more details in the upcoming weeks.
During his time frame at the National Zoo, he sired two male cubs (Mayni and Muniri) in November 2014. They now live in Nashville Zoo.