A female polar bear who lives at the Detroit Zoo was killed by her partner on Monday during a breeding attempt that went horribly wrong.
The bear, Anana, was placed at the zoo in January 2020 and was introduced to the male bear, Nuka, in March, the zoo said in a statement.
The bears had been living together “ without incident ” for part of last year before being separated for several months, the zoo said.
They were reunited last week as part of a “polar bear species survival plan” – and tragedy struck when 16-year-old Nuka killed 20-year-old Anana while trying to breed with her.
“This was completely unexpected and Detroit Zoo staff are devastated by the loss of Anana in this sudden and tragic event,” said Scott Carter of the Detroit Zoological Society.
“The Detroit Zoo has had no experience in decades of killing one animal by another animal; the last occurrence was also with polar bears in 1988, ”he added.
Nuka has lived at the Detroit Zoo since 2011 and has lived and bred with other female bears without harming them, the zoo says.