Polar bear ‘Baffin’ dies at Calgary Zoo

A polar bear died in its enclosure on the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo on Friday.

Round 11:30 a.m. on Friday, the zoo’s two polar bears, Baffin and Siku, had been seen sparring of their pool, which the zoo famous as a standard behaviour for the bears.

Zoo workers observed nevertheless that Baffin had not surfaced from the pool and had not been seen for a couple of minutes.

Siku was shifted out of the enclosure and the zoo’s animal care group went in to evaluate Baffin. Employees decided Baffin was lifeless within the pool.

The bear was faraway from the pool and despatched off for a necropsy, to study what precipitated his loss of life.

The 2 bears arrived on the Calgary Zoo in October 2023. Baffin was seven years outdated.

“It’s clearly an enormous shock in the present day for our workers and volunteers to study of this extremely shocking state of affairs,” Jamie Dorgan, interim chief government officer and chief working officer, mentioned throughout a press convention Friday.

“We’re doing all the things we will to assist the groups who’re in fact household with the polar bears as effectively.”

Dorgan mentioned the zoo veterinarians can be each attainable reason for loss of life. After a fast evaluation, the vets didn’t discover something outwardly apparent that gave them a sign of Baffin’s reason for loss of life.

“We all know that the bears had been enjoying like regular within the pool, sparring like they do, after which considered one of our volunteers observed that she solely noticed one bear, after seeing each of them for some time, after which instantly referred to as our animal care group,” he mentioned.

The necropsy might take weeks to months if the reason for loss of life just isn’t instantly apparent. 

Zoo workers are retaining a detailed eye on Siku – the opposite polar bear – as a result of shocking nature of Baffin’s loss of life.

Zoocheck, “a Canadian-based worldwide wildlife safety charity,” expressed concern over the loss of life:

“We’re definitely involved that polar bears went again into the Calgary Zoo in any respect as a result of they’re among the many worst candidates for captivity however this, from my understanding, is a reasonably younger animal, so I’m very involved concerning the loss of life of the animal. It appears fairly suspicious. I am hopeful it wasn’t one thing within the setting,” mentioned Julie Woodyer, campaigns director for Zoocheck.