After a long illness associated with his advanced age, the management and veterinarian of the zoo decided, taking animal welfare into account, to put Igor, the 21-year-old Siberian tiger of Szeged Zoo, to sleep.

Igor was born in 2005 at Dvůr Králové Zoo, then moved with his brother Boris to Riga Zoo. They arrived in Szeged together in 2009, into the newly built tiger enclosure at that time. According to zoo legend, they felt so comfortable in their transport crate that they did not want to leave it, until a keeper addressed them in Russian and they finally stepped out into their new home.

Szeged Zoo provided happy retirement years for the two big cats. Boris passed away in 2024, and after losing his brother, Igor was no longer the strong, powerful tiger he once was. Age and his previous illnesses had taken their toll, so the veterinary team decided on a peaceful end to relieve his suffering.

In the wild, tigers live on average 10–15 years, while in zoos they may live up to 18–20 years, and only very rarely exceed the age of 20. Therefore, Igor was considered a true Methuselah by tiger standards.

Szeged Zoo will not remain without tigers, as we are working to ensure that after the modernization of the enclosure, the world’s largest cat species will soon be visible again. Because of this charming story, as well as their gentle nature and impressive appearance, they became great favorites among visitors. Their relative calmness was also due to the fact that they had been hand-raised by a keeper in their birth zoo.

Igor also gained national fame in 2018, when he was treated with a regenerative joint therapy already proven in human medicine, as he had been suffering from joint pain for years. The 13-year-old predator was treated using the Lipogems procedure, which has also been successfully applied in Hungary for human joint treatments. During the procedure, tissue containing regenerative (stem) cells taken from the patient’s own fat tissue is used to heal damaged joints. Thanks to this treatment, Igor’s pain was significantly reduced.