Old Polar Bear Put To Death

Dixie the polar bear, a 10-year resident of the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, has been euthanized due to ailments associated with old age.

At 31, she outlived the standard polar bear life expectancy of 25 to 30 years, zoo officials said.

Last summer, Dixie began showing signs of worsening arthritis and other age-related problems.

Her ailments escalated this week, and she stopped eating, began losing weight and lost her ability to climb rocks or swim in her exhibit’s pool, zoo officials said. She had difficulty walking and blood tests revealed her kidneys were failing.

Since Dixie hadn’t been responding to treatment and a veterinarian judged her condition to be fatal, zoo officials decided to euthanize her Wednesday.

Three polar bears remain at the zoo - Nootka, a 19-year-old female; Tillicum, a 25-year-old male; and a 9-month-old female cub named Nanuyaaq who came to the zoo earlier this month after being found abandoned in Alaska.