Amur tiger dies in tragic accident at Colorado zoo
CBSN
A 2-year-old Amur tiger at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado died in a tragic "freak accident," the zoo announced in a statement Tuesday.
The tiger, Mila, was given a dose of anesthesia on Aug. 25 for an upcoming dental procedure, after which she jumped on a bench to lie down while the anesthetic took effect, the zoo said. But after lying down, she slipped off the waist-tall bench at an angle that caused her to suffer a fatal spinal injury, according to the zoo.
"She could have slid off from that height a hundred times and landed in a variety of other positions and been unaffected," said Dr. Eric Klaphake, the zoo's head veterinarian. "The team quickly entered her den when it was safe and diligently tried for 40 minutes to give her life-saving care."
