Exmoor Zoo's last New Guinea singing dog dies
The zoo have confirmed Kota has died - just four weeks after his partner Bell also passed away
Exmoor Zoo's last New Guinea singing dog has died - just four weeks after the loss of his partner, Belle.
Kota had been in palliative care since 2021, but has this week passed away - with the post mortem of Kota and his partner finding they had multiple problems related to their age.
They both passed away after nearly reaching the age of 15 - which is the age they usually live to in captivity.
In a statement, Exmoor Zoo said: "Both Belle and Kota have been phenomenal ambassadors for the zoo and have had a huge following and will leave a large hole in many hearts, especially their keepers.
"RIP Kota and Belle."
The DNA of New Guinea Singing dogs have proven them to be the ancestors of the Australian dingo, and are the original ancestors of all domestic dogs in the Asian region.
Living wild in the remote mountains of New Guinea they have adapted to their environment over 20,000 years free from contact with people.
The zoo are now in talks with the Singing Dog Conservation Society in the USA in the hopes to bring more of the creatures to Exmoor, but there are only 6 females capable of breeding in the USA at the moment (of which there is only 1 mature) - and no litters are planned until this summer.
Exmoor Zoo say they are trying their best to maintain a UK presence for this vitally important ancestral dog in the UK, with Belle and Kota the only Singing Dogs in Europe for over the space of 8 years.
One of their sons is now exhibited at Zoo ZlÃn in Lesna in the Czech Republic with his partner.
Exmoor Zoological Park is a charity that specialises in the conservation of rare species.
You can find out more about Exmoor Zoo here.