Polar Bear Knut's Aging Mom Tosca Put Down at Berlin Zoo

[joeybee12]

MAINZ, Germany — The mother of Germany's star polar bear, Knut, was euthanized at the Berlin Zoo Tuesday after animal welfare experts concluded that the aging animal was suffering.

Born in Canada in 1986 and formerly held by communist East Germany's state circus, Tosca was nearly 30 years old.

"The average polar bear age is between 25 and 30 years, she was very, very old," zoo spokeswoman Christiane Reiss told NBC News.

"Tosca's behavior has drastically deteriorated in recent weeks. She is blind, deaf and cannot find her food," the zoo wrote on its Facebook page after a decision was made to kill the bear. "She was increasingly disoriented, lost weight and only stayed indoors."

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/polar-bear-knuts-aging-mom-tosca-put-rest-berlin-zoo-n380766

Right decision, but still sad...they're beautiful animals and their extinction is probably guaranteed by human greed.

[shenmue]

1. ...

[Coventina]

2. RIP Tosca.

I hope that my species can find the decency to do well by your offspring and their children's children's children.....

[mnhtnbb]

3. Took this photo of the polar bears at Berlin Zoo in Nov 2013

Don't know if one is Tosca, but they sure were cute!

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