The Death of a Polar Bear with Kidney Failure at Utah Zoo

A polar bear at the Hogle Zoo in Utah was euthanized after being diagnosed with kidney failure, and veterinarians realized that there is nothing they can do. The 19-year-old female which was entitled by zoo keepers as the “ambassador to climate change” died on April 8th after she received the terrible diagnostic last week.

The polar bear was having trouble eating and was lethargic

Rizzo, the female polar bear, lived at the Salt Lake City-based zoo for approximately five years. Erica Hansen, a spokeswoman for the zoo, stated that they made this decision with great difficulty since the polar bear was loved by everyone there. They decided upon Rizzo’s life after veterinarians noticed her state of health was worsening as the time passed by.

Hansen also pointed out that renal failure is no something which can be cured.  All they could be to make sure the poor polar bear was comfortable in the time she had left. Everything started when zoo keepers noticed that the polar bear was having trouble eating and was lethargic. Veterinarians decided to run some medical tests and figure out which was the source of the problem.

Veterinarians claimed that they could not cure her

The collected blood samples, conducted an endoscopic exam and an abdominal ultrasound. Thus, the diagnosis was renal failure, which, unfortunately, appears to be a common condition among polar bears. Veterinarians gave the bear anti-inflammatories and a lot of fluids. Nevertheless, the state of health of Rizzo did not seem to better. That was the moment when they realized that they had nothing that they could do to save her.

Hansen argued that they received a lot of sympathetic messages and pictures on the social media page of the zoo since Rizzo died. Lisa Duckworth, a visitor at the zoo, told her story about when she first met Rizzo. She described their encounter on her Facebook page, saying that she felt there was a connection between them since the polar bear was always trying to entertain Lisa who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Rizzo will have a special place in Duckworth’s heart who is thankful to have met her.

Rizzo became part of this zoo back in 2012 when she was part of the Rocky Shores exhibit. For the zoo personnel, Rizzo was a symbol of the significance of conservation since climate change is threatening the population of polar bears in the Arctic.

Image source: wikipedia