Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian National Zoo

As local zookeepers await a birth, they’re also mourning a death. The Smithsonian National Zoo’s oldest sloth bear, Francois, was euthanized yesterday after suffering from a severe degenerative disc disease in his spine.

In December, veterinarians noticed that his condition had worsened and began giving him medicine and making his habitat more comfortable. A month later, the 25-year-old bear began making some improvements, according to a release from the zoo. But over the past several weeks, his medical treatments began to lose effect. Then, his condition began deteriorating over the last several days, at which point zookeepers made the decision to “humanely” put him to rest.

But his more than two decades of life was longer than the average 15.8 year span for most male sloth bears in human care (the National Zoo must be doing something right because another sloth bear in their care lived to 28). And most of those years were spent with pleasure, according to zoo officials. Born at the National Zoo in 1991, he enjoyed “interacting with visitors and basking in the sun.” In 2003, he left D.C. for the Little Rock Zoo to do some breeding. In Arkansas, he sired four cubs. After returning to D.C. in 2010, him made another baby in 2012, followed by three more the next year. But two cubs from that group were eaten by their mother, Khali.

The remaining bear, Remi, was hand-raised by zookeepers. Francois, again, in atypical male sloth bear manner, “readily became her companion and helped teach her how to be a bear,” according to the zoo.

In the coming weeks, a pathology report will give more details about Francois’s death. In the meantime, visitors can see Remi, as well as Francois’ other offspring, Hana and Hank, at the Zoo’s Asia Trail exhibit.