Former Edinburgh Zoo favourite Mercedes, 30, put down after suffering 'age-related health problems'
A 30-year-old polar bear at a wildlife park in Scotland has been put down after suffering "age-related health problems and a rapid deterioration in her welfare".
Mercedes arrived in Scotland in January 1984 from her native Canada, where she had been captured after developing the habit of wandering into a local town looking for food.
She was rescued from being shot, and taken to Edinburgh Zoo where she reared two cubs with her partner, Barney.
After his death in 1996, she lived alone until she was moved into "retirement" at the Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore two years ago.
Zookeepers had recently noted a rapid downturn in her behaviour and her demeanour as she appeared to show signs of rapid ageing and possible senility. Her advanced osteoarthritis was being treated with painkillers.
"We have been monitoring Mercedes' condition for some time now and have tried a number of different therapies for her advanced arthritis, which we were having some success with," said Simon Girling, head of veterinary services at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), which runs the park.
"However, even on medication, Mercedes has now taken a significant turn for the worse in terms of her mobility and is also showing signs of mental confusion. This deterioration in her welfare has prompted us to step in and humanely euthanise her."
Jane Harley, the Highland Wildlife Park's local veterinary consultant, added: "Mercedes has shown a marked deterioration in her condition over the last week. She has signs of severe pain from arthritic joints that the medication no longer appears to be controlling. She also appears to be showing signs of 'old age senility' which is causing her confusion and distress."
Mercedes was born in the wild in the western Hudson Bay region of Manitoba, central Canada, in late 1980 or 1981.
After she grew older, she took to wandering into the town and faced being shot when she was caught for a third time.
However, an RZSS member with Canadian connections intervened to save the bear from being killed and she was moved in 1984 to Edinburgh Zoo, where she gave birth to Minty, a male who was born in 1988, and Ohoto, a female who was born 1991.
The decision to move Mercedes into a specially designed new natural enclosure at the Highland Wildlife Park in October 2009 generated major public interest.
The RZSS said that one of her "most significant contributions" to the future welfare of polar and other bear species was in successfully "test-driving" the new low-cost enclosure design which paved the way for the building of other larger bear enclosures.