BOSTON (WHDH) – A 15-year-old Poitou donkey has died at the Franklin Park Zoo, just three weeks after giving birth to a foal.

Vollavon, who had been at the Boston Zoo since 2016, was in intensive care due to serious health problems, including a stomach ulcer and laminitis – a painful inflammation of the tissue in the hoof, the Franklin Park Zoo said in a statement.

She was euthanized after veterinary staff determined her quality of life was poor, the zoo said.

Vollavon’s foal was born on August 8 with the help of staff after a slow labor, according to the zoo.

The cub is being raised by zoo staff and is currently fed milk, grain and hay, officials said. Betty, a Morgan horse, keeps the foal company in the barn and pen they share, the zoo said.

“It is always heartbreaking to lose an animal we care about, but it is even more heartbreaking to lose a member of a species, or in this case breed, that Zoo New England has worked so hard to protect,” said John Linehan, president and CEO of Zoo New England.

Poitou donkeys, a breed bred in the Poitou region of France, were once widespread but are now threatened with extinction, the zoo said. There are now only about 2,500 purebred Poitou donkeys left in the world.

“But despite the devastating loss of Vollavon, there is a glimmer of hope with the arrival of her young foal. We look forward to introducing him to guests at a later date,” said Linehan.

Visitors to the children’s zoo can also see the foal’s “charismatic” father, the almost five-year-old Inspector Maigret.

(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)