Sadness spread through the Midland Zoo today when Homer, a 16 year old polar bear, was found dead this morning.

Zookeeper Sara N. Getty found Homer floating in the pool of the polar bear exhibit at 7 a.m., about an hour after his feeding. Getty showed her remorse by saying “Homer was a very curious and playful polar bear and we will miss him terribly.”

Homer was the oldest polar bear at the exhibit, with the other two polar bears being 9 and 10 years old. The other two polar bears were removed from the exhibit and are being monitored by veterinary staff. Senior veterinarian staff, Dr. Shanda Lear said, “The zoo will perform a necropsy to try to determine the cause of death. The results will not be available for several weeks.”

Dr. Shanda Lear also mentioned a 10 year old female bobcat, Regina, died of renal failure last week and a 6 year old giraffe, Kenya, died two weeks ago after her horns got caught in her stall. Zoo director confirmed that the two other animals had died this month, but stated the deaths are unrelated.

Polar bears have thrived at the zoo since 1985. The unique exhibit allows the bears to engage in natural behaviors, playing in manufactured snow, digging in gravel and hunting trout in the chilled pool. The bears are ambassadors for their wild relatives, educating zoo visitors about these threatened animals. Zoo director Chris P. Bacon said, “We will do everything in our power to determine how this bear died. Animal welfare and the preservation of species are our primary goals here at the zoo.” Bacon assured us that today’s incident will be investigated to determine the exact cause of death.