BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Zoo has shared some sad news coming out of the Sea Lion Cove.
The zoo announced Tuesday that Dallas, the California sea lion, unexpectedly passed away Sunday night.
"Our veterinary and animal care teams had been closely monitoring and treating Dallas for a respiratory issue, and he seemed to be improving," the zoo said in the post on their Facebook page. "Our veterinary team performed a necropsy (the animal version of an autopsy), and the results were inconclusive on the cause of death. We will be sending out tissue and other samples to specialized laboratories to learn more about the untimely passing of Dallas."
Dallas was 21-years-old and came to the Buffalo Zoo in 2005 as part of the debut of the Sea Lion Cove exhibit.
He was dad to Toni, born in June 2019. The zoo said their female sea lions Jesse, Pokey, and Toni, are in good health and are doing fine.