The Shubenacadie Wildlife Park announced the passing of one of its beloved bears in a Wednesday Facebook post. “Bonnie Bear” died on Monday. She was 14-years-old. Bonnie lived at the wildlife park in Shubenacadie since she and her brother arrived as orphan cubs, said the post. A postmortem is in progress to determine her cause of death. On Monday, park employees allowed Bonnie’s brother to spend time with his sibling, a practice that is being studied but shows potential to help animals process loss. The bears have never been separated so employees said they are giving Bonnie’s brother extra attention and monitoring his well-being. The Wildlife Park asked visitors to share their memories of Bonnie on Facebook. They reminded the public that social media staff do not work in animal care or medicine so questions should be directed to the park directly. Black bears can live up to 30 years in the wild and longer in captivity, said a black bear fact sheet from PBS. The animals at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park were rescued like Bonnie and her brother or born in captivity at other zoological facilities. The park does not take animals from the wild for the purpose of display. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
