Calgary zoo polar bear drowned after rough play with enclosure mate: necropsy

By: The Canadian Press Posted: 3:00 AM CDT Tuesday, Jul. 23, 2024 Last Modified: 1:50 PM CDT Tuesday, Jul. 23, 2024

CALGARY - A necropsy has shown that a polar bear at the Calgary zoo died by drowning after his throat was crushed by a fellow bear in rough play considered normal for the massive predators.

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CALGARY - A necropsy has shown that a polar bear at the Calgary zoo died by drowning after his throat was crushed by a fellow bear in rough play considered normal for the massive predators.

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This article was published 23/07/2024 (789 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY – A necropsy has shown that a polar bear at the Calgary zoo died by drowning after his throat was crushed by a fellow bear in rough play considered normal for the massive predators.

“It’s typical of how they play,” said Sandie Black, senior veterinarian for the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo. “We believe this was a tragically misplaced grab.”

The two male bears, Siku, 8, and seven-year-old Baffin, were roughhousing in a pond Friday morning before visitors to the exhibit when Baffin submerged and didn’t resurface.

Polar bear Baffin is shown in this undated handout photo. The results of a necropsy are expected to be announced July 23 after the death of a polar bear in Calgary. The Wilder Institute and the Calgary Zoo says seven-year-old Baffin did not resurface from a pool after playing with another polar bear on July 19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo

“They were in and out of the water,” said Black. “They were playing and fine, then one moment he didn’t come up.”

The bite went unobserved. At first, nobody knew anything was wrong.

“It was apparent that one of the bears didn’t surface,” said Colleen Baird, the zoo’s director of animal care. “(Visitors) were like, ‘How long can a bear hold its breath?'”

Eventually, Siku was brought back into his enclosure, visitors ushered away and the pond drained to reveal Baffin’s body.

Examination revealed that although Siku’s bite didn’t pierce Baffin’s skin, it was hard enough and in just the right place to crush his trachea. Zoo staff couldn’t have done anything to prevent the death, Black said.

“The placement of the teeth had to be so exact,” she said.

“This was almost instantaneous. We believe (Baffin) lost consciousness and the drowning was immediate.”

Siku and Baffin were both originally from the Churchill, Man., area. Both had been orphaned when they were less than a year old — a circumstance which bear cubs don’t normally survive.

The pair came to Calgary from the polar bear enclosure at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg. They were chosen because they had lived together for years and were considered to be compatible.

Black said Siku, the smaller of the two bears, was being closely watched but was eating and behaving normally.

“We don’t have any immediate concerns for him.”