A West Lothian zoo has announced the passing of two of their 'longest serving residents'.
Two donkeys, Chocolate and Fudge, had to be put to sleep after Chocolate fell ill and Fudge refused food after his 'life-long companion' was no longer around. Having spent every day together since they came to the zoo in 2005, the pair were rescued by the owners.
Five Sisters Zoo shared the news on social media, with hundreds of comments expressing sadness.
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Updating followers on their Facebook page, Five Sisters Zoo said: "It is with great sadness that we have to announce the sad passing of our two longest serving residents, Chocolate and Fudge.
"Chocolate had been ill for some time, and as his condition progressed our veterinary team had to make the sad decision to put him to sleep.
Fudge was his life-long companion, and despite living with our group of donkeys and ponies, he began to pine for Chocolate and rejected all food.
"Donkeys are prone to a very serious condition called hyperlipidaemia if they don’t eat enough while pining and unfortunately this is what happened to Fudge. Despite the best possible care from our dedicated veterinary and keeping team, his condition worsened and we had to make the difficult decision to put Fudge to sleep too.
"Chocolate and Fudge were rescued by Brian and Shirley even before Five Sisters Zoo was established in 2005 and hadn’t spent a day apart since. They were adored by so many and we are all heartbroken to have lost two real characters of the zoo."
You can find out more about the zoo here.
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