Last Polar Bear in Africa’s Heart Fails After Partner Perishes

By Emily Bowers

Source: @JoburgParksZoo via Twitter.com

Wang, who Johannesburg Zoo said was the last of his species in Africa, was born in... Read More

Wang, a 28-year-old polar bear whose partner died in January, was euthanized at the Johannesburg Zoo in South Africa today after suffering liver and heart failure.
The animal, who the zoo said was the last of his species in Africa, was born in December 1985 and arrived in Johannesburg a year later. Wang “had been pining after his partner of 27 years, GeeBee,” who died from natural causes on Jan. 12, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo said in a statement on its website.
In 2010, the zoo decided not to replace its aging polar bears, it said. Wang had been receiving treatment for liver problems for almost four years ago, it said.
The bears’ natural habitat is the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean and they have thick body fat to insulate them
from the cold.