S.F. Zoo’s polar bear dies at 36 of old age

Uulu, the oldest polar bear in the U.S., has died at the San Francisco Zoo of what old polar bears and other old animals die of.

“Advanced age,” said a statement from the zoo Friday.

Uulu, who was 36, had also “experienced a rapid decline in her health due to congestive heart failure.”

She came to the San Francisco Zoo in 1985 at the age of 3 from her home in Churchill, Manitoba. There she had made something of a name for herself by fearlessly rummaging through the town dump and resisting several attempts to get her to quit.

She had been declared a “problem bear” and scheduled for euthanasia when San Francisco agreed to take her in. In her digs at San Francisco Zoo, her behavior improved.

“She had a curious nature and could often be found digging in the dirt, which turned her white fur brown,” the zoo said.

Over the years, Uulu received the kind of attention and fuss that celebrities traditionally get. In 2002, she was moved with great fanfare our of her former home — one of the zoo’s Depression-era concrete bear grottos — and into a brand new $25,000 habitat, complete with a drinking fountain, grass and concrete tree.

In February, hundreds of polar bear fans flocked to Uulu’s enclosure for International Polar Bear Day, when the zoo brought in 10 tons of snow and ice and placed it around the clearly delighted bear. Spectators said Uulu frolicked in the snow like a cub.

Even with all the snow, Uulu was still flecked with brown dirt.

Her name is the Alaska Native word for a curved knife that is used to skin animals such as polar bears.

Two years ago, Uulu’s fellow polar bear, Pike, also died at the San Francisco Zoo of old age at 32.

The average life span of a polar bear is about 24.

For the first time in decades, San Francisco finds itself without a polar bear.