Putin the tiger is dead: Minnesota Zoo reveals big cat passed away from cardiac failure during medical procedure

A TIGER named Putin has died while undergoing a medical procedure.

Minnesota Zoo said that the big cat passed away during the procedure on Wednesday.

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Putin was said to have experienced cardiac failure, causing his death.

"Despite heroic emergency efforts of veterinarians, animal health technicians, and zookeepers, he did not survive," the zoo said in a statement.

The procedure was a preventative health exam that included taking samples to assist breeding efforts, which would have helped the globally-threatened Amur species.

There are believed to be less than 500 Amur tigers surviving in the wild, with 103 of them in zoos in North America.

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The tiger was born in the Czech Republic where he was given the name Putin.

He stayed in a Denmark zoo for a total of six years before making the journey to Minnesota in 2015.

"Today is an incredibly hard day for all of us at the Minnesota Zoo and we will be mourning for quite some time," Minnesota Zoo director John Frawley said.

"Our zoo has played a key role in global tiger conservation throughout our history and we currently are co-leaders of the Tiger Conservation Campaign, which has raised millions of dollars for tiger conservation. While this loss is great, we can be proud of our efforts – past, present, and future – to advance tiger conservation worldwide."

The zoo added that Putin's "genetically important legacy lives on" in his cubs.