TOGETHER FOR 20 YEARS
SeaWorld polar bear Szenja, 21, dies suddenly just weeks after her best friend Snowflake was taken away from her
This comes after thousands of people had signed petition to keep the two bears together
A BELOVED polar bear has died unexpectedly at SeaWorld in San Diego just weeks after its companion was moved to a zoo.
Szenja was found dead after going off food and withering away for about a week following the separation.
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Thousands of people had signed a petition to keep the two bears together.
Tracy Remain, PETA executive vice president, told NBC: "After losing her companion of 20 years when SeaWorld shipped Snowflake to the Pittsburgh Zoo in order to breed more miserable polar bears, Szenja did what anyone would do when they lose all hope, she gave up.
"This should be a wake-up call to SeaWorld: Stop breeding and shipping animals around, close the animal exhibits, and retire the animals to sanctuaries.
"Until it does, this ship will keep sinking."
A necropsy is planned, but the park says it could be several weeks before the cause of her death is known.
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Szenja was born at a zoo in Germany in 1995. Two years later, she was brought to SeaWorld when the park opened its Wild Arctic exhibit.
Polar bears can live about 18 years in the wild and 20 to 30 years or more in captivity.
The oldest polar bear in the United States, a female called Uulu (OOH'-loo), died last Friday at the San Francisco Zoo.
She was 36.
A spokesperson for SeaWorld said: "We, and other accredited and world-class zoological facilities, remain focused on our important mission of animal conservation and public education and inspiration. We will not be distracted by organisations with a clear anti-zoo agenda creating false narratives not grounded in any scientific fact.
"It is well documented that adult polar bears are typically solitary animals, and Szenja was continually cared for and enriched by her dedicated and passionate animal care team.
"She did not demonstrate any adverse behavioural changes following Snowflake’s transport to the Pittsburgh Zoo in February as part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP) breeding visit.
"Unlike wild polar bears facing habitat loss, human encroachment and limited food sources, Szenja lived an long and enriching life at SeaWorld with the passionate and uncompromising care provided to her by her loving trainers, and made a positive impact on tens of millions of park guests that had the chance to see her over the past 20 years."
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