Last night, May 12, 2014, Saffron, a female Scimitar-horned Oryx kept at Tama Zoo passed away. She was 7 years and 3 months old. The cause of death was heart failure due to unexplained exhaustion.

On March 29th of this year, Saffron gave birth to a female calf named Sakura and was raising her offspring when, on April 21st, she suddenly appeared lethargic in her enclosure. From the following day, she was unable to stand, and has been receiving daily treatment including intravenous fluids.

When Saffron first became unable to stand, her offspring Sakura had only just begun to eat a little grass, and her nutrition was still mainly from breast milk. Saffron continued to breastfeed even while lying down, but as her condition worsened, her milk supply decreased, and Sakura began to eat more grass and hay. Even when she couldn't drink milk, Sakura spent a lot of time snuggling up to her mother, Saffron.

Yesterday evening, May 12th, Sakura ate solid food for the first time. Seeing this, Saffron seemed relieved, and then quietly passed away. Sakura had a gentle personality, but she grew so much in the past three weeks. I want to express my gratitude to Saffron for raising Sakura this far.

◎News about saffron
"Scimitar-horned Oryx has also been born! (Saffron was founded on February 2, 2007. Article dated March 2, 2007)
"Scimitar-horned Oryx baby growth (Article dated April 13, 2007)
"Scimitar-horned Oryx give birth to two babies, mother and offspring. (Saffron is a first-time mother, Montblanc is a third. Article dated July 8, 2010)
"Following Bloom, Saffron, another Scimitar-horned Oryx, has given birth! (Saffron gives birth to Sakura. Article dated April 7, 2014)

◎From Tokyo Zoo Net BB video
"Scimitar-horned Oryx, two parent-child pairs (Saffron and Montblanc after birth. Photographed on July 23, 2010)

(May 13, 2014)