Detroit Zoo Staff 'Devastated' After Polar Bear Killed Monday

ROYAL OAK, MI — A female polar bear at the Detroit Zoo was killed by the Zoo’s adult male bear on Monday, officials with the zoo said.

Anana, a 20-year-old female polar bear, died when 16-year-old Nuka was attempting to breed her, officials said in a news release. The two bears live together without incident in 2020, according to Scott Carter, a chief life sciences officer with the Detroit Zoological Society.

“This was completely unexpected and the Detroit Zoo staff is devastated by the loss of Anana in this sudden and tragic event,” Carter said.

No animal has been killed by another animal at the Detroit Zoo in decades, officials said, adding the last time such an incident took place also involved polar beats and was in 1988.

After being apart for several months, Nuka and Anana were re-introduced last week as part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Polar Bear Species Survival Plan, a population management and conservation program that aims to help ensure the sustainability of healthy captive animal populations, officials said.

The program is vital to sustaining the endangered species and can result in successes like the recent birth of twin cubs, fathered by Nuka at the Detroit Zoo, officials said. Currently, there are only about 55 polar bears in 25 AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums, according to zoo officials.

Nuka has lived at the Detroit Zoo since 2011 and has lived with, and bred with, several other female bears without showing harmful behavior, staff said.

Anana came to the Detroit Zoo in January 2020 and was introduced to Nuka at the end of March.

The Detroit Zoo’s other adult female polar bear, Suka, is in a private maternity den with one of her cubs.