Animal lovers are mourning the death of a rare Sitatunga antelope at a Tennessee zoo after it ingested and then choked on the cap of a squeezable food pouch, zoo officials said.
Lief was barely halfway through what would have been his typical 19-year lifespan if a zoo-goer had not brought the forbidden pouches into the park, said Brights Zoo of Limestone, Tenn., in a social media post. The beloved antelope was barely 8.
“He still had a lot of life to live,” the zoo captioned its photo of Lief.
“Some ask why we don’t allow squeezable pouches into the zoo,” the private, family-owned zoo said alongside a photo of food pouches with bright red tops like the cap that had killed Lief. “The reason is simple — the packaging is dangerous to our animals. Today we lost a beloved animal due to choking. If you look at these lids from an animal perspective, it looks like food. This is what forced us to do bag searches, but yet some people find ways to sneak these in.”
Zoo director David Bright told The Washington Post on Thursday that a zoo visitor had likely “snuck in the pouch” and “threw the lid into the exhibit.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” zoo worker Connie Bright posted in a comment. “The three keepers who tried in vain to save this animal felt helpless and devastated as the animal they loved and have hand-fed for years lay dying. Many hearts are sad and broken today.”
The humans weren’t the only bereft individuals, she said. “Not only are the keepers and all workers devastated, their herd can’t understand where their friend went.”
Lief was a lover of life, a “very curious animal that enjoyed being up close to his keepers,” David Bright told The Washington Post. “He had no fear of humans.”
The Sitatunga antelope is native to Africa and frequents swamps and marshes, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo.
