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An orphaned black bear who lived at the Los Angeles Zoo for 25 years has died, officials said Thursday.

The bear, Ranger, was euthanized on Wednesday because he was in declining health and had a decreased quality of life, the zoo said in a statement.

“This is truly a deep loss for our zoo community,” zoo director and CEO Denise M. Verret said in the statement. “Ranger’s presence helped connect millions of Angelenos to the type of wildlife that exists around us, which is crucial to building empathy, so we may peacefully co-exist with one another.”

Ranger was an orphaned cub who was rescued in Minnesota in 1997 and taken to the Los Angeles Zoo. He couldn’t be returned to the wild because he had become accustomed to human interaction, the zoo said.