N.Y. zoo says goodbye to its playful polar bear
ROCHESTER – The lone polar bear at the Seneca Park Zoo has died.
Aurora, 28, was euthanized last week after it was determined that she had severe liver disease. She lived in Rochester for more than two decades.
“The loss of such a beloved animal is difficult for the entire zoo family,” said Zoo Director Larry Sorel. “Aurora captured the hearts of staff and guests alike. She will be deeply missed.”
Sorel said Aurora’s health deteriorated quickly. A necropsy determined that she had a deteriorating liver and a compromised gallbladder, according to Louis DiVincenti, the zoo’s director of animal health and conservation, who performed the necropsy.
“This is not uncommon, and the Special Survival Plan is actively working to identify causative factors for liver and gallbladder disease in polar bears,” he said.
Aurora was born at Hogle Zoo in Utah in 1989 and moved to the Seneca Park Zoo two years later. Her den-mate Zero, a male polar bear, died in 2016 at age 26.
Polar bears tend to live to between 15 and 18 years in the wild and between 25 and 30 in captivity.
During her time in Rochester, Aurora gave birth to five cubs between 1996 and 2002, one of which died not long after his birth. Three are females, Anoki, Sila and Haley; Qilak is the lone male.
All four are now grown. Anoki lives at the Maryland Zoo, Sila is at the North Carolina Zoo, Haley is at the Memphis Zoo and Qilak is at the Denver Zoo.
All of Aurora’s cubs were conceived with her first mate, Yukon, who died at the zoo in 2008.
Known for her calm, good-natured personality, Aurora loved spending time with her keepers every day, zookeeper Hanna Kaiser wrote last month on the zoo’s website. Kaiser said Aurora loved enrichment activities. Among Kaiser’s favorites was to give the polar bear an ice block of fish, “which makes her exhibit a natural behavior of pounding on the ice to break it open.”
Aurora in late winter could often be found rolling in the snow and swimming in the pool.
“She seemed to really enjoy interacting through the glass (of the pool) with guests,” Sorel said. “She also enjoyed scaring people and getting a reaction.”
Polar bears are considered an endangered species. Fewer than 100 live in captivity in North America.