It’s been a sad week at Safari Zoo.

We have had to announce the sad passing of 23-year-old Andean Bear Snoopy.

Keepers noticed Snoop was not himself and that he did not have his usual appetite.

When his condition didn’t seem to improve, Snoopy was anaesthetised to allow us to obtain blood tests. Sadly the tests gave us the result we were dreading, his kidneys had completely given up, meaning he was very uncomfortable and doubts were raised over his quality of life.

Vets told us his condition would only deteriorate, leaving him feeling worse. On the advice of our veterinary consultants, with did the kindest thing and intervene.

Snoopy joined Safari Zoo in 2007 and was a firm favourite with staff and visitors alike. He will be sorely missed by everybody. Sleep tight big guy.

Last week we reported the birth of capybara babies.

During regular keeper checks one of the babies was not looking too healthy and was surrounded by flies.

The little one was whipped off to the vet room and the team removed every egg.

The baby was very weak but was making attempts to move and call out so we were desperately hoping for a miracle.

The team attended to him for the following few hours but sadly little Piglet did not make it through the night and passed away at around 2am.

It’s a harsh reality that animals die. The best case scenario is they pass away peacefully after a long happy life. But life isn’t always like that.

For Snoopy and Piglet there was nothing more anyone could have done.

This is the harsh reality of life as a zoo keeper. We build a bond with the animals and care for them throughout their lives no matter how long or short it may be.

Yet without this bond we wouldn’t know when the inevitable was almost there, and we wouldn’t know when they need that bit of help.