The UK’s oldest polar bear, known for being the first to successfully raise cubs in 25 years, has been euthanized due to health problems related to her age. Victoria, at 28 years old, had been living at the Highland Wildlife Park in the Scottish Highlands since 2015. The veterinary team made the difficult choice to put her to sleep on Tuesday morning after evaluating her quality of life. She had been receiving medical care for arthritis since December.
Initially, she seemed to respond well to treatment, but her condition worsened, leading to her passing. Generally, wild polar bears have a much shorter lifespan, often not reaching 18 years, but those in captivity have the opportunity to live longer.
Victoria was born in December 1996 at the Rostock Zoo in Germany. She gave birth to her first cub, Malik, in 2008 at the Arborg Zoo in Denmark. Another significant milestone in her life came in 2017 when she gave birth to Hamish, marking the first polar bear cub born in the UK since 1990. Then, in 2021, she welcomed another cub named Brody.
Debbie, another notable polar bear, passed away in 2008 at the age of 41 or 42, making her one of the oldest recorded polar bears, spending most of her life at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Canada.
David Field, CEO of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), expressed gratitude for Victoria, highlighting her as a wonderful mother and noting the joy she brought to visitors eager to learn about polar bears and the challenges they face in the wild. According to RZSS, Victoria leaves behind an “incredible legacy” through her cubs, emphasizing the importance of genetic diversity among captive polar bears.
