World’s fourth largest rodent and a sloth bear died at Zoo Miami. Here’s what happened

Zoo Miami announced that two of its animals were euthanized this week because of ongoing health problems.

“It’s been a sad week at Zoo Miami as we had to say goodbye to two long-term residents,” Zoo Miami’s communication director Ron Magill said Thursday.

Tango was a male Patagonian mara, the fourth largest rodent in the world and native to the central and southern plains of Argentina.

Related to guinea pigs, they look like a cross between a rodent, a hare and a deer, Zoo Miami said in a statement.

Tango’s health was declining the past few weeks due to his advancing age, and on Wednesday “the difficult decision was made ... to euthanize this beloved member of the animal ambassador team.”

“For well over a decade, Tango served as an iconic ambassador for countless visitors to Zoo Miami as well as an outreach animal that visited schools and special events to help inspire a love of wildlife while promoting its conservation,” Magill said.

Tango was brought to the zoo in 2010 after he was found wandering the parking lot of the Falls mall in South Miami-Dade. Patagonian maras live on average to about 14 years old in the wild. Tango was already an adult of about a year old when he was found. And although the news of his passing is sad, he passed his life expectancy, according to the zoo.

“Though he will be deeply missed, there is some solace in knowing that because of the care he received here over the last 14 years, he lived a long and impactful life.”

Then, on Thursday, the zoo decided to euthanize Keesha, a 28-year-old sloth bear who was not responding to treatment for several ailments, including severe arthritis of the spine, Magill said.

“She has been under a carefully managed regimen of medications to help support her quality of life for several years,” Magill said. “Unfortunately, the arthritis became so severe in recent weeks that pain medications no longer were effective and her ability to be mobile was drastically reduced.”

Keesha was born in Tennessee at the Smokey Mountain Zoo in 1996. She then went to the San Diego Zoo before coming to Zoo Miami in 2016, Magill said.

Zoo Miami tried to mate Keesha with Hank, the resident male sloth bear, but trhe pairing didn’t produce any viable cubs, Magill said.

“On a positive note, Kematee, our other female sloth bear, did successfully give birth to two female cubs that recently made their public debut and are thriving,” Magill said. “As one generation bows to the next, it is hoped that these cubs, along with their parents, will continue to educate and inspire those who have the privilege of seeing them to want to protect them and the wild in which they live.”

Sloth bears are native to India and their species’ status is considered vulnerable.

According to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, their lifespans are between 20 and 30 years old.

Magill said Keesha was the oldest sloth bear in the Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s Species Survival Plan in the nation.