Oldest polar bear, 42, dies in Canadian zoo

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Debby, believed to be the world’s oldest polar bear, has died at a Canadian zoo.

Zoo coordinator Gordon Glover at Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Manitoba, said Tuesday that the bear was euthanized on Monday after suffering from several strokes and organ failure.

The 42-year-old polar bear was born in the Russian Arctic in 1966. She came to Winnipeg’s zoo as an orphan a year later.

Debby entered the Guinness Book of World records as the oldest living polar bear earlier this year at age 41.

Few polar bears reach 20 years of age in the wild, but many have survived into their early 30s in captivity.