Beloved bear, last of his kind at Point Defiance Zoo, euthanized after battling cancer
Blizzard the polar bear came to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium as a year-old cub in March 1997, rescued as an orphan from Churchill in the far north of Manitoba, Canada.
For more than two decades Blizzard wowed visitors and, later in life, helped researchers learn more about his species. After a rapid decline in his health due to liver cancer — diagnosed in the bear in September 2021 — zoo officials on Sunday euthanized the 26-year-old arctic giant.
“While this was an aggressive form of cancer, we were able to keep Blizzard comfortable and ensure he had a high quality of life for many months after his diagnosis,” the zoo’s head veterinarian, Dr. Karen Wolf, said in a news release.
Zoo officials said the bear lived more than three years past the median life expectancy of 23 years for polar bears in human care, according to statistics from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Blizzard had been receiving chemotherapy treatment and other supportive care to slow the progression of the disease.
Preliminary results of the animal’s necropsy showed that the cancer mass in his liver had grown to the size of a giant watermelon, according to a news release. The polar bear that Blizzard was brought to the zoo with in 1997, Glacier, also died after suffering from liver cancer, in 2015. He died at age 19 and was believed to be the first polar bear treated with chemotherapy in the United States.
Another polar bear, Boris, died at Point Defiance Zoo in 2020. At the time, he was the oldest known polar bear in the world at 34. After Blizzard’s death Sunday, the zoo no longer has any polar bears.
Zoo officials described Blizzard as an engaging bear whose “vigorous” play in his saltwater pool masked his age and illness.
“Blizzard was feisty, smart and always eager to learn new things,” said assistant curator Sheriden Ploof, who was one of his primary caregivers. “He loved pouncing, playing with his big barrels, splashing in his pool, and practicing his stalking and hunting skills. He was an exceptional animal who will be deeply missed by everyone who knew him.”
Ploof said the bear was trained to voluntarily participate in his medical care, learning to put a paw through a specially built sleeve in his bedroom so veterinary staff could obtain blood samples that were critical to monitoring his health.
Blizzard also helped researchers, allowing small patches of his fur to be dyed black in early 2019, according to zoo officials. This let University of Washington scientists study the rate of polar bear hair growth to evaluate stress levels, contaminant exposure and nutritional needs in wild polar bears.
More recently, Blizzard was involved in a national study of prototype technology to help researchers track and study the movement patterns of polar bears in the wild, called “Burr on Fur.”
Polar bears are listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Zoo officials said that as climate change reduces Arctic sea ice, polar bears struggle to locate and catch seals, making it difficult for them to survive.
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 1:30 PM.
