Assiniboine Park Zoo mourns the loss of one of its favorite polar bears.
Aurora, who has been at the zoo since 2013, died on Tuesday during a routine dental checkup, zoo officials said on Thursday.
“This is a very, very sad time for all our zoo keepers,” said Grant Furnis, senior director of zoo operations at Assiniboine Park Zoo.
“Aurora was a much-loved bear. It brought joy to so many hundreds of thousands of people who passed through our zoo.”
Furnis said the bear was anesthetized for the procedure and was successfully completed, but then received a cardiac arrest and never woke up.
Aurora was found as a little girl wandering near Churchill Airport in the fall of 2013. Her mother was never found.
She suffered from recurring dental problems, most likely from eating stones and sticks, while trying to survive without her mother, Fernis said.
Last year, she was featured in an episode of Arctic Vets when she received dental care.
The bear has received seven dental treatments so far, including four root canals, all of which have been successfully completed, Furnis said.
Without them, she could suffer serious infections that could be fatal, he said.
Although anesthesia is something veterinarians try to avoid as much as possible, in this case the bear’s quality of life suffers, Furnis said. There were times when Aurora lost her appetite and seemed to be in pain, he said.
The zoo will do other tests, but it is not clear at this time why Aurora did not wake up.
“It makes it so challenging because we don’t know exactly what went wrong,” he said.
“I don’t think we could have done much differently.”
It is with great sadness that we announce today that Aurora, one of our female polar bears, died on Tuesday during a dental procedure under anesthesia. Our employees, visitors and volunteers will miss Aurora exclusively. More info: pic.twitter.com/nsuhwmYUkU
– @assiniboinezoo
Aurora was like the mother of some of the little ones that have come under the care of the zoo in recent years, Fernis said, but it’s hard to say how other bears will react to her death.
As for the zoo staff, he said they were heartbroken.
“You’re making a connection with them, so it was difficult.”
WATCH | The polar bear Aurora as a small child:
The Winnipeg Zoo reveals a new, charming polar bear
For the third time in a year, the Assiniboine Park Zoo welcomed a polar bear at its facilities.
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