Ocean Park’s male koala Sora put to sleep after infection takes its toll

A koala at Ocean Park was put to sleep on Tuesday after an earlier respiratory infection left it in a weakened physical state – the second case involving the park’s marsupials in the past year and a half.

Sora, a five-year-old captive bred male koala, which had been living in the park’s Adventures in Australia exhibit since it arrived from Tennoji Zoo in Osaka, Japan, in July last year, was diagnosed with a serious respiratory infection that was eventually resolved in May this year.

But its body was weakened, and the infection led to irreversible gradual deterioration of vital functions, a spokesman from the theme park said.

Sora was given supportive and palliative care for several months, the park said, but the animal’s vital functions were observed to have reached a level incompatible with quality of life and satisfactory welfare on Monday, signifying that a humane endpoint had been reached.

Hairy future for Australia’s koalas

In animal experiments, a humane endpoint is the earliest indicator of pain or distress in the subject. Researchers can use these indicators to avoid or limit pain and distress in laboratory animals by taking actions such as humane killing, terminating a painful procedure or giving treatment to relieve pain and distress.

The park’s veterinarians recommended euthanasia for Sora to prevent unnecessary suffering. Tennoji Zoo and Cleland Wildlife Park in South Australia, where Ocean Park’s remaining two koalas are from, and Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department all agreed with the decision, the spokesman said.