Elmwood Park Zoo mourns loss of Red Panda, Shredder

NORRISTOWN, PA (WTXF) - The Elmwood Park Zoo is mourning the loss of one of their animals this week.

The zoo's two-year-old male red panda, Shredder, has died.

According to the zoo, Shredder was found unresponsive early in the morning this past Wednesday. A necropsy revealed Shredder had and enlarged, thickened heart, and showed signs of heart disease.

Zoo staff noticed labored breathing the night before his passing, and Shredder was treated, but succumbed within a few hours.

"Shredder showed no signs of illness and was even seen eating bamboo throughout the day. Just
as in people, animals' hearts can be abnormal without any clinical signs," explained Dr. Adam
Denish, Elmwood Park Zoo's veterinarian.

Shredder's brother, Slash, is scheduled for an echocardiogram to confirm that his heart is healthy.

Born on June 26, 2014, Shredder was one of three red panda brothers that arrived at the Elmwood
Park Zoo from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in the spring of 2015. His brother,
Clinger, passed away in December 2015 of encephalitis caused by a brain parasite.