Farewell to Nur-Nuru-Bin March 22, 2017

The Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden announces with deep sadness that the tumour that attacked Nur-Nuru-Bin won over the animal’s will to fight and the efforts of our professionals. Our colleagues have been fighting for the life of the koala since last week. He responded well to therapy at the beginning and his appetite temporarily improved. However, later on the situation took a turn to the worse. According to the latest cytology tests, he had already reached the terminal stage of the illness and he had reached a state where nothing could be done. Considering the options, we decided to save the animal from further suffering.

As you might already know, last week the animal was diagnosed with lymphoid leucosis, a cancerous disease attacking the blood-forming organs. This illness occurs frequently in koalas, in both those living in the wild and zoo residents. In Europe, where only a few zoos keep koalas, similar cases have already occurred in four other institutions, including the Belgian zoo from which Nur-Nuru-Bin came to Budapest.

A great many encouraging posts arrived at our Facebook site, for which we wish to thank all who had Nur-Nuru-Bin in their thoughts and the professionals who fought for him during the efforts of recent days.