A leopard who became popular with visitors at a wild animal park in Kent has died aged 19.
Tingting, a North Chinese leopard, arrived at Howletts Wild Animal Park in 2008 when she was just three years old.
She came to the UK from Karlsruhe in Germany as part of a worldwide breeding programme and was joined by two-year-old male Saian who arrived from Thoiry near Paris.
A couple of years later she gave birth to two cubs, one of whom stayed with her until the day she died.
Announcing the sad news on Facebook, Howletts Wild Animal Park said: “We just wanted to take a moment of your time to let you know that our dearest North Chinese leopard, Tingting has passed away at nearly 20 years old.
“She arrived at Howletts in 2008, joining two-year-old Saian and just a couple of years later she gave birth to two cubs, one of whom remained with her until the day she died.
“She has always been such a huge personality, and certainly knew how to keep her keepers on their toes.
“She was like your shadow, always keeping an eye on you, always there, hoping you’d give into those big eyes and hand her an extra little snack.
“She really was one of a kind and will be seriously missed by all.
“We will continue to monitor Saian and Baiya following Tingtings’ passing, as she has left a big void that no one can ever fill.”
