Elmwood Park Zoo Provides Cause of Death of Beloved Red Panda

NORRISTOWN, PA -- Norristown's Elmwood Park Zoo has revealed the cause of death of their beloved red panda, Shredder, to be heart failure.

That matches original suspicions of zoo veterinarians and keepers, who tended to Shredder after he began to show labored breathing on the night of January 3. Shredder passed away shortly thereafter.

Officials wanted to investigate whether or not Shredder suffered the same illness that prematurely took the lives of his mother and his brother, Clinger: protozoal disease. Clinger passed away in December of 2015.

Shredder and Clinger's brother, Slash, remains at the zoo, and officials said that they gave him a full examination, including a echocardiogram. The examination showed that Slash has an enlarged heart and changes in his heart valves.

"This unfortunately indicates that Slash appears to have the same abnormalities that occurred in Shredder," zoo staff said.

The zoo is working to study Slash's condition and to keep him healthy.

"However, at this point, he is happy, alert, and acting like a normal panda," said Elmwood Park Zoo veterinarian Adam Denish.

Red pandas are native to the eastern Himalayan Mountains and parts of China.

Image via Elmwood Park Zoo Facebook