Fernando the capybara, a former crowd favourite at New Plymouth's Brooklands Zoo, has been euthanised at Wellington Zoo following a rapid decline in his health.
The 7 year old giant rodent was transferred to the capital last year to join a breeding programme.
However, Wellington Zoo staff made the difficult decision to euthanise him on welfare grounds after his quality of life dropped sharply in recent weeks.
Fernando had been living alone since March, when his intended breeding partner, a female capybara named Dia, died unexpectedly.
Capybaras are highly social herd animals, and zoo staff closely monitored his wellbeing during his four months of isolation.
In a statement posted to social media, Wellington Zoo explained that staff looked for alternatives to keep him happy. "Options were explored to transfer him to another New Zealand zoo, however no other facility had the room or resource to care for him, or an existing capybara herd he could safely slot into," the zoo said.
They said the choice to euthanise was based entirely on careful consideration for the animal's health and wellbeing.
Fernando first became a Taranaki local in January 2020 when he and his brother, Luis, moved down from Auckland Zoo.
Wellington Zoo confirmed it no longer houses any capybaras and has no immediate plans to bring more to the facility.
