AKRON — The Akron Zoo announced on Wednesday, Oct. 14, that Tai Lung, its male snow leopard, has died at 17 years and five months old. Zoo officials said Tai Lung was believed to be one of the oldest male snow leopards in captivity, and his loss closes a chapter that began when he arrived in Akron in 2018.
An examination found that Tai Lung was in the advanced stage of kidney failure, according to the zoo. His animal care team had already been monitoring him for kidney disease, and zoo spokesperson Elena Bell said the new diagnosis, combined with his progressive mobility problems, led to the difficult decision to euthanize him rather than let his condition continue to worsen.
Keepers who worked with Tai Lung every day remembered an animal with an outsized presence in a relatively quiet habitat. Tyler McCullough, his primary keeper, described him as talkative and eager in training sessions, an animal that enjoyed goat milk and baby food, sunning himself and rolling in the clover. Those small habits, McCullough said, are the ones staff will carry with them.
Tai Lung had spent months off exhibit before returning last spring to a refreshed habitat in the zoo’s Legends of the Wild area, where construction work had updated the space. His return gave visitors one more season with him, and zoo staff said many guests who had followed his story came back specifically to see him settled into the renovated home.
His age alone set him apart. The typical life expectancy for a snow leopard is about 15 years and five months, zoo officials said, meaning Tai Lung lived roughly two years beyond that mark. For a species that is difficult to breed and keep healthy in human care, reaching that age reflected years of close veterinary attention, diet management and daily monitoring by his keepers.
The zoo said it is now working with conservationists connected to the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan to bring a new snow leopard to Akron. That process, which matches animals across accredited zoos for the long-term health of the population, will determine which animal comes to the city and when the habitat welcomes a new resident.
For now, no timetable for a successor has been announced, and the zoo said its focus is on supporting the staff who cared for Tai Lung and answering visitors who grew attached to him over eight years. Anyone planning a trip to the zoo in the coming days should expect his habitat to stand as a quiet tribute while the work of finding Akron’s next snow leopard goes on behind the scenes.