The Santa Barbara Zoo lost its last capybara on Friday. Antonio, the 4-year-old capybara, was euthanized following a months-long battle with cancer.
Zoo officials announced Antonio’s death on Instagram. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare form of blood cancer, in August.
The zoo’s veterinary team developed a treatment regimen for Antonio to provide him with the “highest level of care” and “the best chance of achieving remission,” zoo officials said, and he did show “some positive signs” of improvement “over the past couple of months.”
However, they continued, he experienced a “significant decline” in the days leading up to his death, according to the zoo’s announcement. Progressive limb weakness was seriously affecting his quality of life, they explained, and, ultimately, staff “decided that humane euthanasia was the best option for the ailing capybara.”
Antonio’s death marks the second of the zoo’s capybaras (it had only two) to be humanely euthanized this year. Poppy, the zoo’s 8-year-old female capybara, was euthanized in August after staff found an “inoperable mass” in her throat. Poppy’s age was considered geriatric for a capybara, with the average lifespan being 8-10 years. Zoo staff and community members mourned her all the same, as they are now Antonio.
Born in Alabama and joining the Santa Barbara Zoo in 2023, Antonio “quickly stole the hearts of Zoo staff and community members with his gentle and curious disposition,” the zoo said in the announcement.
“While we wished to spend many more sunny years in Santa Barbara with Antonio, we are hopeful that the information gathered through his diagnosis and treatment may be shared to help other capybaras in the future,” it said.
The zoo has not yet indicated what it will do with the capybaras’ enclosure.
