A beloved Bengal tiger who served as a fixture at an Alabama zoo was euthanized this week after his health had drastically declined, zoo keepers announced.

Rajah came to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo as a young cub.

Zoo officials said Rajah was 18 years old which is equivalent to being 90 to 95 years old as a human.

Rajah’s health began declining rapidly, his keepers said, and when it drastically affected his quality of life, they made the difficult decision to humanely end his suffering.

“Rajah lived at the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo his entire life and had such an incredible presence,” said Joel Hamilton, Executive Director. “His life not only brought joy to so many of us and our guests but helped the zoo educate our guests about this endangered species and how important it is to take care of our wildlife and preserve our planet.”

Rajah will live on in the hearts of our staff and all those who loved him.

The Bengal tiger is considered endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species. The loss of habitat and prey, caused by human expansion, poaching and illegal wildlife trade are the largest threats to tigers in the wild.