African painted dog dies at Binder Park Zoo

Brooks Hepp | Battle Creek Enquirer

African painted dogs are the most endangered carnivore in all of Africa. Binder Park Zoo received three of them in 2012.

The last of the three brothers died Wednesday at the age of 12.

The zoo announced that Verizon died of gastric dilatation volvulus, also known as “twisted stomach.”

The condition is caused from rapid dilation and expansion of the stomach, which leads to increased pressure that can cause the cell death in many tissues and other complications. It is most common in canines.

Dr. Kim Thompson, staff veterinarianat the zoo, said, although Verizon was older, his death was unexpected.

“Verizon had been in relatively good health but was on several treatments for advanced arthritis, not unexpected at his age,” she said. “The loss of Verizon due to GDV was sudden and unexpected, as he showed no abnormal signs or symptoms of GDV the previous day.”

Verizon, who was born in 2007 at the Bronx Zoo in New York, outlived both his brothers who died of cancer last year.

It is estimated that there are only around 6,000 African painted dogs in the wild, which makes them the most endangered African carnivore.

Verizon sired a litter of 11 pups in November 2018, which helped to diversify the breed in North American.

The pups will remain at Binder Park Zoo for the foreseeable future until they are given breeding assignments. Then, some will transfer to new zoos, while others will remain in Battle Creek.

“It was a triumph for Verizon to sire a litter at his advanced age and then to observe him to be an attentive dad to the pups,” said Kathryn Sippel, curator of collections at the zoo. “It was impressive to see his natural instinct kick in to father the pack and support his mate.”

On average, the life expectancy of an African painted dog is 10 to 12 years in captivity.

Binder Park Zoo is closed for the remainder of fall and will not reopen until December for Zoolights. The 2020 season opens on April 16, 2020.

Contact Brooks Hepp at (269) 223-0114 or bhepp@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BrooksHepp.