Sad loss of young polar bear

[Catherine]

I haven't heard the results of the post mortem and testing. He was an orphan so maybe his immune system was weak.
He lasted a year so I think they expected him to thrive.

He could have swallowed something or it could have been an unknown infection. I am sure they will keep looking until they find a cause.

Quote:But it is possible that even in the wild, not all young ones survive for one reason or another.

This is absolutely true. There are always losses in the wild. There can be genetic causes that we didn't suspect or a heart defect that didn't become a problem until he was older. Whatever the cause, it is a sad day for all those who tried to keep him alive.
We pour a lot of love into raising orphaned animals. I feel for those that raised him. This is the hard part of working with animals. Sometimes things don't work out and the animal dies.