13 WTHRPolar bear dies at Indianapolis Zoo

Polar bear dies at Indianapolis Zoo

Emily Longnecker/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - The Indianapolis Zoo has lost one of its biggest attractions - the oldest known polar bear in the world. Veterinarians decided to euthanize the 35-year-old female bear, which fell ill suddenly Wednesday morning.

Zoo employees say they've shed some tears at the loss of Tahtsa (pronounced TOTsa). Even though a cage was always between Tahtsa and her caregivers, that didn't stop them from getting attached to the 300+ pound bear.

Tahtsa, one of Indy's two polar bears, may go down in history as one of the oldest bears that lived in captivity. The 34-year-old bear was on loan to Indianapolis from Louisville for the past three years, delighting adoring fans at the Indianapolis Zoo.

"She was out on exhibit yesterday, swimming and acting normal," said Tom Cranberry, Indianapolis Zoo.

But by Wednesday, Tundra, the zoo's only other female polar bear, was left. Zoo veterinarians euthenized Tahtsa earlier in the day.

"We came in and she couldn't stand up," said Cranberry.

Zoo staff said they tried to entice Tahtsa with her favorite treat.

"We got some Crispy Kremes to her because she liked them," Cranberry said. "She did eat 'em. And she wanted them very badly. But she couldn't move to get 'em."

"We evaluated her for a while and decided that, you know, she wasn't going to have the quality of life, so they made the decision to euthanize her," Cranberry added.

"Seeing her unable to get up at all, yeah. It was a hard decision," said Jodie Baker, Indianapolis Zoo. "We're just trying to get through our day today."

Visitors who came to see Tahtsa were sad to hear the news.

"She always did the same little swim around," said Cindy Perry, visitor.

"I think its really sad," said Rachel Perry.

"It's kind of a bummer to see that it's gone," said Nick Perry.

Zoo employees remembered Tahsta for her size.

"She's a very small little bear," Baker said.

But say she made up for it in spirit.

"She was feisty. She liked to pounce at the keepers when they would work with her," said Cranberry.

The zoo says they'll try and get another polar bear, but they say that won't be an easy task.

"Because they're endangered, it's very difficult," Cranberry said. "Hopefully a bear will become available, but there's plenty of other zoos that would like have more."

Still, getting another polar bear won't replace Tahtsa.

"You get very attached to all of the animals you work with. You do," Baker said.

The zoo says they'll do a necropsy on Tahtsa to figure out why she died. At 34, she was the oldest known polar bear in captivity.

Endangered species

The zoo says the loss was not unexpected, but that any polar bear death is acutely felt because of the dwindling population of the animal in the wild. Biologists use a working figure of 20,000 to 25,000 bears with about sixty percent of those living in Canada.

The main threat to this dwindling population today is the loss of their icy habitat due to climate change. Polar bears depend on the sea ice for hunting, breeding, and in some cases to den. The summer ice loss in the Arctic is now equal to an area the size of Alaska, Texas, and the state of Washington combined.

The IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group has reclassified the polar bear as a vulnerable species
on the IUCN's Red List of Endangered Species, and they reported that of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears, five are declining, five are stable, two are increasing, and seven have insufficient data on which to base a decision.

On May 14, 2008, the U.S. Department of the Interior reclassified the polar bear as a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act, citing concerns about sea ice loss. Canada and Russia list the polar bear as a species of concern.

(Info from Indy Zoo)