Sad news, folks. On Tuesday, the San Francisco Zoo made the decision to euthanize (.pfd) their Amur tiger, Tony. "As the second oldest male Amur tiger in North America at 18 years of age, Tony reached a point where his quality of life was so diminished that euthanasia was the only humane option," the SF Zoo explains."Tony had been displaying more and more signs of decline in the last few months."

If you recall, Tony made headlines in March after getting stuck in the zoo's tiger grotto moat.

"Tony was having good days and bad days, but the bad days were becoming more frequent,” says Jacqueline Jencek, DVM, chief of veterinary services at the San Francisco Zoo. “We have done everything possible to make him comfortable, but it came to a point where we didn’t want to see him suffer.”

The much-missed tiger was born at the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson Arizona on March 21, 1992 and came to the San Francisco in June of 1993. "He was a favorite among Zoo Members and visitors and his pastimes included playing with enrichment, swimming in his pool or napping under a shaded tree."

Join us after the jump for details, lots of interesting details, about the re-opening.