A polar bear has died whereas using on the Calgary Zoo, a tragedy.
That is the conclusion of an post-mortem (or animal post-mortem) of a seven-year-old male named Baffin, who died Friday, July 19, on the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo. Baffin was orphaned within the wild and rescued when he was lower than a yr outdated. He spent most of his life at one other Canadian zoo close to Winnipeg earlier than being transferred to the Calgary establishment.
Accompanying him on the trek was one other orphaned male polar bear, eight-year-old Siku, and it was this companion who was partly liable for Baffin’s premature dying. The zoo defined in a press release {that a} necropsy carried out by an impartial wildlife pathologist concluded that Baffin drowned after his trachea was crushed throughout “tough play” with Siku. assertion. Baffin might have been unconscious underwater attributable to his accidents. The bear was in any other case in “glorious bodily situation” and confirmed no indicators of heat-related stress.
It has been a tough few days since polar bear Baffin handed away unexpectedly. An post-mortem revealed that he drowned attributable to tracheal accidents attributable to tough play with Siku. He’s in glorious well being with no indicators of warmth stress. We proceed to mourn his passing. pic.twitter.com/4q8jZaibSK
— Calgary Zoo (@calgaryzoo) July 23, 2024
Colleen Baird, director of animal care, well being and welfare on the zoo, mentioned: “Whereas the post-mortem outcomes are conclusive about the reason for Baffin’s dying, it doesn’t carry any new outcomes to our staff who beloved Baffin a lot. What a aid. “Baffin and Siku have an extended historical past as long-term habitat mates and luxuriate in a companionship, which is why they have been chosen to return to Calgary from the Assiniboine Park Zoo. They exhibit the traits of many polar bears. Pure behaviors, together with every day play out and in of the water, didn’t seem to vary from the sort and depth of play seen by their caregivers on the day of the incident.
Polar bears sometimes stay into their teenagers within the wild, however some have been discovered residing into their early thirties.
Baffin’s drowning just isn’t the primary time the Calgary Zoo has come underneath scrutiny for the dying of an animal. In 2010, an exterior audit revealed that a number of animals have been killed or injured attributable to unqualified workers or flaws in exhibit design. Canadian Broadcasting Company experiences. These embrace the deaths of a child elephant, a hippopotamus, 4 gorillas and 41 stingrays, in addition to the deaths of dozens of bats and 4 sugar gliders.
