World's oldest polar bear dies The world's oldest polar bear,
orphaned as a cub in the cold Russian north and raised in
captivity, has died aged 42 after thrilling millions of visitors
to a Canadian zoo, officials said. "It is with great sadness
that Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo must advise that Debby the
polar bear - one of the world's most-famous and loved bears -
was euthanised on Monday," the zoo in western Canada said in a
statement. "Debby's medical condition had been gradually
declining for several months, but she remained active and alert"
until her final hours, "when a clinical exam indicated multiple
organ failure." Debby, 42, an orphan from the Russian Arctic,
arrived at the zoo as a cub in 1967. She produced six surviving
offspring with her mate Skipper, who passed away in 1999 at the
age of 34. Few polar bears reach 20 years of age in the wild,
but several captive bears have survived into their early 30s.
This year, the Guinness Book of World Records crowned Debby the
world's oldest polar bear