Minnesota Zoo’s brown bear, Kenai, dies at 17
Pictured is Kenai, a brown bear at the Minnesota Zoo. (Credit: Minnesota Zoo)
APPLE VALLEY, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Zoo announced the death of one of its brown bears, Kenai, on Tuesday.
Kenai was a beloved bear who spent over 15 years at the Minnesota Zoo. The brown bear, who was 17, died after battling liver cancer, according to the zoo’s announcement.
Kenai arrived at the Minnesota Zoo in 2008 along with two other orphaned brown bears, Sadie and Haines. The three bears were found in Alaska in 2006 and spent the first couple years of their life at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center before making the more than 2,500-mile journey to Minnesota.
While the three bears were not related, the zoo said they acted like siblings and described Keani as the "laid back little brother" who was always willing to tag along, even though he was the largest of the group.
"This is a hard loss for our staff and the zoo as a whole. Kenai was an important ambassador for his wild counterparts and his presence will be dearly missed," the zoo wrote on Facebook.
The two remaining bears remain in their behind-the-scenes habitat for torpor, similar to a light winter hibernation, according to the zoo.