A female polar bear living at the Detroit Zoo was killed by her partner in a breeding attempt that went terribly wrong Monday.
The bear, Anana, was placed at the zoo in January 2020 and had been introduced to the male bear, Nuka, in March, the zoo said in a statement.
The bears had 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 a tragedy occurred when 16-year-old Nuka killed 20-year-old Anana while trying to breed with she.
“This was completely unexpected and Detroit Zoo staff are devastated by the loss of Pineapple in this sudden and tragic event,” said Scott Carter of the Detroit Zoological Society.
“The Detroit Zoo has not experienced the killing of one animal by another in decades; the last occurrence was also with polar bears in 1988,” he added.
Nuka has been living at the Detroit Zoo since 2011 and lives and has been bred with other female bones without hurting them, according to the zoo.