A polar bear female who lived at the Detroit Zoo was killed by her partner in a breeding attempt that went terribly wrong on Monday.
The bear, Anana, was placed at the zoo in January 2020 and introduced to the male bear Nuka in March, the zoo said in a statement.
The bears lived together “without incident” for part of last year, before being separated for several months, the zoo said.
They met last week as part of a “polar bear species survival plan” – and the tragedy came when Nuka, 16, killed Anana, 20, while he tried to breed with her.
“This was completely unexpected and the Detroit Zoo team is devastated by the loss of Anana in this sudden and tragic event,” said Scott Carter, of the Detroit Zoological Society.
“The Detroit Zoo has not experienced the death of one animal for another in decades; 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, says the zoo.