When baby Tuff, a brown bear born in Kananaskis this year, was left by his mother his chance of a happy existence was next to nil.
And though he passed away last week from complications related to a birth defect, thanks to the persistent care of Discovery Wildlife Park staff the summer under the Central Alberta skies was happier than anyone could have predicted.
“I actually became his mother,” said Serena Bos, head zookeeper. “He was extremely affectionate.”
Tuff enjoyed climbing trees, splashing in the creek, batting a mini-soccer ball and relaxing at campfires.
But something wasn't right, and no one was quite sure why.
“With him passing we found out a whole bunch more information,” Bos said. “He was born with many different defects. He would never have been able to grow into a full-sized bear.”
Over the summer the bear faced dehydration and pneumonia, toughing it out step by step.
Tuff was taken to the Calgary Zoo, where vets discovered the brown bear had a congenital defect with his main airway, the trachea. While it should have been as thick as a man's thumb it was actually the size of a drinking straw.
Because they had never come across such a condition, research gained from studying the bear will be invaluable in diagnosing other animals that may have a similar defect.
Discovery Wildlife Park held a family campfire when they learned of Tuff's passing in memory of all the campfires he had been to.
In the wake of the bear's death the zoo's Facebook pageviews shot up, and donations have been flooding in. Tree and park bench donations have been offered in Tuff's memory.
Family photoshoots at the zoo are being set up to pay for the bear's final vet bill and to help other orphaned animals in future. Visit Discovery Wildlife Park's Facebook page to donate.
