TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Topeka Zoo officials say a 23-year-old American black bear died after an eye condition rapidly deteriorated.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the bear, called Sneak, possibly poked herself in the eye while playing with a stick on Monday.
Topeka spokesman Molly Hadfield says injury quickly grew worse and the bear was taken to a veterinary hospital Wednesday.
Sneak quit breathing as she was being intubated and her heart stopped. Hadfield says the bear didn’t respond to emergency drugs or resuscitation efforts.
Sneak arrived at the Topeka Zoo in 1996 from Wildlife Prairie State Park in Peoria, Illinois, with her sister Peek, who died in 2015.
In 2014, the zoo rescued two orphaned black bears and Hadfield says Sneak became the cubs’ adopted mother.
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Information from: The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com
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