SEATTLE - An elderly Pallas’s cat at Woodland Park Zoo died following an examination last weekend. The 12-year-old female cat had exhibited signs of weakness and the examination revealed weight loss, dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. She died while recovering from anesthesia. The final cause of death is pending further lab tests and histopathology reports.

The death leaves one female Pallas’s cat remaining at the zoo. Just slightly larger than a house cat, these stocky, sturdy felines inhabit steppes, deserts and rocky areas throughout Central Asia and parts of eastern Europe. They can weigh up to 10 pounds with an average length of 26 inches. Their beautiful longhaired, silver-frosted coat makes the threatened species a target for fur traders.

Woodland Park Zoo received the two female Pallas’s cats in 1992 as a gift from the Chongqing Zoological Gardens as part of the Seattle-Chongqing Sister City Association. Since 1984, the two zoos have exchanged information, visiting delegations and animals, and have cooperated in conservation and breeding of endangered species.

Woodland Park participates in the Pallas’s Cat Species Survival Plan (SSP) and 34 other SSPs administered by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, including the Aruba Island rattlesnake, Humboldt penguin and orangutan. SSPs are cooperative breeding programs among North American zoos to manage and expand the populations of endangered species. In addition to ensuring genetic diversity and demographic stability, SSPs involve a variety of other cooperative conservation activities such as research, public education, reintroduction, veterinary assistance and field projects.

The cats were named in honor of 19th century German naturalist Peter Pallas. The cats hunt prey such as mice and pikas, a lemming-like rodent, and other small mammals and birds, but very little is known about how many are left in the wild and even less is known about their natural history.