Wildlife park confirms the death of one of its much-loved tigers

The resident female tiger called Princess unexpectedly fell ill last week - with staff noticing a sudden change in her behaviour.

Vets were called to see the nearly nine year-old animal and took bloods for analysis, after initially finding no other signs to indicate concern.

Sadly the results from the blood test showed she had kidney failure and the sanctuary’s vets concurred that the kindest thing for her would be to put her to sleep.

Steve Nichols CEO said “It has been a long weekend coming to terms with the outcome - Princess came to us in 2016 and has always been such a loveable character, she will be sorely missed by the keepers and wider zoo family, including our dedicated fans and visitors.”

He added: “We’ve had hundreds of messages from our visitors and each one is thoroughly appreciated.”

Princess was a star of the park’s live videos on Facebook due to her ‘huge personality’.