The Roanoke Times | File

This August 2006 photo shows Ruby the tiger at Mill Mountain Zoo.

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Ruby the tiger, Mill Mountain Zoo's most famous feline, died Sunday after being euthanized because of failing health and declining quality of life.

Ruby was believed to be about 19 years old and one of the oldest tigers in captivity in North America at an accredited zoo.

"It was the right decision," Sean Green, the zoo's director, said during a short news conference Sunday. "It's a tough day."

At the zoo, visitors came and went as usual. Patrons were told early in the day that Ruby was sick and not on display. By afternoon, once word spread, everyone in the know at the zoo, from the zookeepers to the woman working the ticket window, seemed visibly somber.

Ruby, who might have been an Amur (Siberian) tiger or a hybrid, was taken in by the zoo in November 1988 after being confiscated from a private owner in Danville. Back then there was little market for a tiger whose lineage was questionable.

So Ruby stayed at Mill Mountain and ultimately became the zoo's star, with her likeness appearing on bumper stickers, postcards and a mural in the gift shop.

"You can say the word 'Ruby,' and everyone in this community knows who that is," Greene said. "For her to live this long and have the life she did ... I hope it was a great experience for her."

There are no immediate plans for a replacement tiger, and there are no plans for a public memorial for Ruby, Greene said. Instead, the Blue Ridge Zoological Society, which operates the zoo, likely will honor Ruby with something lasting, perhaps a plaque in her memory. Images of Ruby are everywhere at the zoo, but signs at her exhibit will be taken down.

This year Ruby began showing increased signs of old age. Her fur had faded in color, and since early spring, the tiger's carnivorous appetite had faded, leaving zoo workers to alter her diet more than five times with up-and-down results.

Ruby's health continued to grow frail into the summer, when she weighed in at 235 to 240 pounds, down significantly from 350 pounds in her prime. She had arthritis in her left shoulder as well as hearing loss.

About two years ago, urine samples began showing that Ruby's kidneys were failing. That caused protein loss, decreased appetite and weight loss.

Ruby's veterinarian, Bill Poage of Valley Animal Hospital in Roanoke, said in August that if Ruby were a human she would be the equivalent of 80 to 85 years old. He predicted that kidney failure would end her life if another health problem didn't.

Poage, whose license plates read "RUBYS DR," wasn't available Sunday for comment. Earlier this year, he said, "Ruby is just like an older person. You don't want them to leave. But you know it's going to happen."

Despite a tight budget, the zoo had spent more than $1,400 to put Ruby on a senior diet that would be easier for her body's digestion. That plan lasted for a while before zoo workers tried supplementing her food with store-bought ground beef and Tyson chicken, both of which worked for a time.

As of this summer, Ruby was still alert and playful and vocalizing, which Greene and Poage thought were good signs. But things took a turn for the worse in the past week.

In recent days she had trouble moving and she was eating very little. That led to the decision Saturday to euthanize her after months of trying to maintain her quality of life. Poage performed the procedure Sunday morning.

Roanoke Vice Mayor David Trinkle said he visited Greene at the zoo Thursday and wanted to see Ruby.

"I really didn't get to see her," Trinkle said Sunday. "We walked around where Ruby was, and he told me he thought Ruby would have another month or two.

"I knew she was sick," said Trinkle, who has served on the zoo's board of directors. "Ruby was a big draw when I was involved with the zoo. It is sad."

News of Ruby's death came as a surprise to several of her other old friends, including Beth Poff, the former Mill Mountain director who now oversees the Jackson Zoo in Jackson, Miss.

"She started out as one of those phone calls you get at the zoo," Poff said Sunday. "At the time, we had an empty space at the zoo, and we said, 'We can hold onto her temporarily.' We had a pretty good idea that if she came to the Mill Mountain Zoo it was going to be home. And indeed she came to the zoo, and it became home for the rest of her life."

Poff said she has fond memories of walking past Ruby's old cage, and is proud that the zoo was able to build a new exhibit area for the tiger.

"I really equate the zoo with Ruby," Poff said. "Tigers tend to be a favorite animal of people in general. I can't imagine the Mill Mountain Zoo without Ruby. She kind of identified with the visitors. ... She did have a soft spot in my heart. I'm sorry that it is the end of an era to a certain extent."

Michele Hancock recalled in an e-mail Sunday when Ruby came to the zoo. Her youngest sister, now 26, bugged the family every day for empty cans from around the house, which her school gathered to raise money for Ruby's enclosure. Even after her parents moved to North Carolina, Hancock took her sister to see "her tiger" when she came to Roanoke to visit.

"She was always proud of the little bit that she did to help Ruby," Hancock said.

Joanna Coleman and her family were at the zoo Sunday and heard the news. Coleman's daughter Katie has a collection of Ruby books, clothes and dolls that she sleeps with each night. She points to the Mill Mountain Star after sundown and calls it "Ruby's Star," Coleman wrote in an e-mail.

"Today is a sad day in our house," wrote Coleman, of Roanoke. "Ruby brought so much joy to Katie and our family."

Another Ruby fan, Sue Hill of Bent Mountain, said over the phone that she'll miss Ruby's spirit and kind demeanor.

"She is my friend," said Hill, 74, who has visited the zoo over the past 46 years with her children and grandchildren. "She was so peaceful all the time. She was very old. I just don't know how old. That's so sad. That's a terrible loss."

marques.harper@roanoke.com 777-6494

erinn.hutkin@roanoke.com 981-3138