LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville Zoo said goodbye to one of its friends Tuesday.
Hope, the zoo's female pygmy hippo, died Feb. 18. She was euthanized just four days shy of her 25th birthday, according to zoo officials.
Hope has been ill for two weeks and was undergoing treatment for renal disease, according to a news release. She was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, which is common in one third of all pygmy hippos. Zoo officials said they decided to perform a "humane euthanasia" after Hope didn't respond to treatment and her quality of life deteriorated.
“These cases are never easy and euthanasia decisions are typically made as a group,” Zoo Veterinarian Dr. Zoli Gyimesi said. “Her kidneys were failing, she was not responding well to treatments and her prognosis was considered very poor.”
Hope came to the Louisville Zoo in 2011 from the Oklahoma City Zoo. The Scotland native was in rotation with 26-year-old male pygmy hippo Maji. The pair gave birth to a male hippo Jahrai in 2014. He is now at the Pittsburgh Zoo.
The zoo said a necropsy and complete pathologic examination will be performed.
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