Florida Officials Launch Investigation After ZooTampa At Lowry Park Stingrays Suddenly Die

Florida officials of ZooTampa at Lowry Park have launched an investigation after 12 stingrays suddenly mysteriously died.

The deaths were discovered on Thursday when the veterinarian team noticed the stingrays were unresponsive while carrying out daily routines.

“The animal health team received a call from the animal care team that the stingrays didn’t look right. They weren’t being active; they weren’t coming over for food,” Dr. Cynthia Stringfield revealed.

“We tried pulling them out, and seeing if anyone was still alive, and see if there was anything we could do, but it was very, very sudden,” Stringfield continued.

The animals were housed at the zoo’s Stingray Bay, which is a tank containing 16,000 gallons of water, where visitors can feed and touch the creatures.

The zoo’s veterinary teams have begun testing the water at Stingray Bay and inspecting the mechanical equipment to determine what caused the deaths.

Although the deaths are suspected to be “water-related,” results so far have indicated “optimal water quality and conditions.”

On Thursday night, the ZooTampa at Lowry Park shared the news to its Facebook page. “It’s with heavy hearts we share that today ZooTampa lost 12 residents of Stingray Bay,” the message read.

The post went on to reveal the exhibit has been closed down. “It may take several weeks for all of the test results to come in. Stingray Bay is a closed system that’s home only to the rays. It remains closed at this time,” the statement read.

Zoo officials have been able to determine that the stingrays were dead for less than an hour before they were discovered.

“They were checked and cared for first thing in the morning, and they were all fine. So that is the other really strange thing,” Stringfield said.

Necropsies have been done on the 12 stingrays and tissue samples were sent out to labs for further examination.