At the old age of 37: Polar bear Katjuscha died – Berlin Zoo now without polar bears – Berlin

Polar bear Knut was once the star there – ten years after his death, the Berlin Zoo no longer has any polar bears. Polar bear Katyusha died at the age of 37. Zoo keepers found the lifeless elderly polar bear on Christmas Eve in her outdoor area, as the zoo announced on Monday. She was said to be the oldest female polar bear in Europe.

In the natural habitat, polar bears live to a maximum of 25 to 30 years, as the zoo announced. Katyusha had been suffering from a heart condition for several years and had been receiving veterinary treatment for a long time.

“How the polar bear keeping at Berlin Zoo will continue in the future will have to be decided in the coming weeks,” it said. The polar bears Tonja (12) and her cub Hertha (3) live in the zoo in Friedrichsfelde in the east of Berlin.

Katjuscha was born in 1984 at the Karlsruhe Zoo and came to Berlin when she was about one year old. She did not raise her own offspring.

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After age-related organic changes and massive water retention were discovered over six years ago, the polar bear was given medication. For her last birthday in November she ate a complete fish cake, said zoo and animal park director Andreas Knieriem according to the announcement.

At times Katjuscha also lived on a facility with the polar bear Knut. Born in 2006 and raised by hand, the little polar bear caused a huge rush of fans in the zoo in the west of the capital. Eleven million people came to “look”, and fan articles generated additional income. In 2007 alone Knut brought the zoo a profit of around five million euros. He died of encephalitis in March 2011. (dpa)