ROYAL OAK, Mich. – A female polar bear at the Detroit Zoo was killed during a mating attempt on Monday. READ: Polar bear killed at Detroit Zoo“I wish we understood what happened yesterday with the polar bears,” Detroit Zoo Chief Life Sciences Officer Scott Carter said. Carter said they separated the bears for some time because polar bears like to be on their own. The male bear is now living alone. The Detroit Zoo released a statement late Monday:

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – The Detroit Zoological Society is mourning the loss of a female polar bear. Here is the statement from the Detroit Zoo late Monday:A female polar bear at the Detroit Zoo was killed by the Zoo’s adult male bear on Monday, February 8, 2021. The Detroit Zoo has not experienced the killing of one animal by another animal in decades; the last occurrence was also with polar bears in 1988. The Detroit Zoo’s other adult female polar bear, Suka, is in a private maternity den with one of her cubs. Detroit Zoological SocietyRead back: Detroit Zoo debuts new polar bear, Anana, to help with breeding effortsAdFor the first time in nearly two decades, polar bear cubs were born and are being successfully raised at the Detroit Zoo.

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – The Detroit Zoo is debuting a new polar bear, Anana, to help the threatened species with its breeding efforts. Anana made her debut Thursday, on International Polar Bear Day. March marks the start of polar bear breeding season, which is already apparent for 15-year-old male Nuka and 7-year-old female Suka, who have been at the Detroit Zoo since 2011 and 2018, respectively. Anana is 19 years old and was previously at the Cincinnati Zoo to breed with another male polar bear. When that polar bear didn’t appear to be fertile, Anana was brought to the Detroit Zoo to breed with Nuka.