Results tagged “slothbear”

National Zoo's Elderly Sloth Bear Dies

Another sad death to report at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Merlin, the Zoo's oldest male sloth bear, died this morning after a 48-hour illness, according to a news release. He was 28 years old.

On Monday morning, Nov. 2, he underwent a routine physical examination. Although the examination went well, his anesthetic recovery was prolonged, and he had not returned to normal by the afternoon. While under observation, veterinarians noticed that he had vomited some blood-tinged fluid.

          

It's a double dose of adorable today from the National Zoo. As good DCist readers, you know that we've had two batches of baby animals to coo at lately: the giant anteater pup who has a thingee, and the pair of clouded leopard cubs (also with thingees). Today we've learned, via the Zoo's Flickr stream, that our anteater pal has been named. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Cyrano. He's gaining a pound a week, nursing and hanging out on his mother's back all day.

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