A male cheetah named Justin, nicknamed “Gat,” died unexpectedly last week at the Smithsonian National Zoo, zookeepers announced Monday. He was 8 years old.

The poor guy developed a serious cough on Feb. 22, and zookeepers performed a number of tests — including a COVID-19 test, which came back negative — and discovered Justin had bronchitis and pneumonia.

After staff veterinarians administered administered antibiotics and monitored him at the vet hospital, Gat appeared to be on the mend. But on March 3, he returned to the cheetah conservation station and collapsed. Attempts to resuscitate Gat were unsuccessful.

A preliminary necropsy revealed evidence of a hemorrhagic pneumonia.

Zookeepers say Gat, one of three male cheetahs at the National Zoo, enjoyed being around people even more than he enjoyed other cheetahs.

“He would regularly solicit attention from keepers and eagerly participated in opportunities to interact with them, including husbandry training sessions,” the National Zoo said in a statement. “Gat could often be heard purring loudly and enjoyed playing with enrichment toys for hours. He frequently chased his favorite red rubber ball and carried large Kong toys around his habitat.”

Justin was born in 2012 at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., where he and his sister Carmelita were abandoned by their mother after a difficult birth. The two were named after Justin Gatlin and Carmelita Jeter, the fastest 100-meter runners from the U.S. in the 2012 Olympics.

The Olympic medalists met the cubs, serenaded them with songs from The Lion King, and dubbed them “Lita the Cheetah” and “Gat the Cat.” The names stuck.

While Gat’s untimely death may seem premature, male cheetahs in the wild typically only live six to eight years, according to the zoo. Due to poaching, human conflict, and habitat loss, the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers cheetahs vulnerable to extinction.

SCBI is home to other cheetahs, including four cubs born last April to a mom named Echo.

Gat wasn’t selected to breed, but the popular cheetah taught staff and guests plenty about the top predators’ biology and behavior.

In that way, the zookeepers said, “Gat served as an ambassador for his species.”

Previously: 
Anybody Else Need To See The National Zoo’s Newborn Cheetahs Right Now?
The National Zoo Just Got A Delivery Of Cheetah Milk