Oregon Zoo tiger Bernadette 'happy and healthy' after testing at OSU veterinary hospital

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon Zoo's Bernadette, known as "Bernie", a 270 pound Amur tiger, recently underwent testing at Oregon State University's veterinary to determine the cause of a seizure she had over the summer.

At the Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital at OSU’s Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine, Bernie underwent and MRI to scan for brain abnormalities, as well as an ultrasound of her abdomen and a spinal tap.

The results of the MRI did not show anything that would cause ongoing problems, so Bernie was tapered off her anti-seizure medication and the zoo reports she is back to her healthy, playful self.

Bernie first came to the Oregon Zoo in 2019 with her sister, Eloise, and was a dominant “sassy” cat, lead tiger keeper Megan Hagedorn of the Oregon Zoo said. She mellowed out a bit after Eloise was transferred to Idaho Falls on a recommendation from the Species Survival Plan for Amur tigers, a cooperative program among zoos that helps create genetically diverse, self-sustaining populations to guarantee the long-term future of the critically endangered species.

Bernie had been scheduled to move to a new facility as well, but that was put on hold because of her medical issues.

She’s a great animal, Hagedorn says, who likes people and working with her keepers. She naps 18-20 hours a day and she loves goat milk.

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