By AP/KWMU
St. Louis – For the second time in five weeks, a polar bear at the St. Louis Zoo has died, leaving the zoo with just one of the
animals.
Penny, a 19-year-old polar bear, died Thursday night of peritonitis.
Zoo officials feared something was wrong when she refused to eat.
Penny spent the day in the exhibit, but retreated to her den around 4:30 p.m., and was found dead about 90 minutes later.
An examination Friday morning determined the bear was carrying two dead fetuses that should have been born in the fall.
That caused the abdominal infection that led to her death.
On May 26th, Churchill, an 18-year-old male polar bear, died during surgery to remove an obstruction from his stomach.
The only polar bear now at the zoo is Hope, Penny's twin sister.