AP News, March 7th, 2007
A male grizzly bear relocated from the wild 12 years ago has died at the Bronx Zoo, where he was a popular attraction, zoo officials said.
The 13-year-old bear named Jughead died last Friday while undergoing surgery for an abdominal abscess, said Dr. Patrick Thomas, the zoo's curator of animals.
"Jughead was a wonderful, charismatic animal and he will be missed by all of our staff and visitors," said zoo director Jim Breheny.
Three bears remain at the zoo's Bear Overlook compound: Jughead's brother, Archie, and two female grizzlies, Betty and Veronica.
The four bears, named for characters in the "Archie" comic strip, were rescued from Montana and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming after being judged "nuisance" bears that had become too accustomed to humans and posed a potential danger. In 2004, the zoo bears were featured in a special edition of "Archie" comics.
Once ranging the American west from Mexico to Alaska, grizzlies have been reduced nearly to the point of extinction by civilization's encroachment on their habitat, and now are concentrated in federal reserves in Montana, Wyoming, western Canada and Alaska.
Classified by the U.S. Interior Department as "threatened," grizzlies have remained fairly stable in the past 20 years, probably numbering fewer than 1,000 animals in the western United States, Thomas said.
Zoo officials said Jughead had been treated for a possible bacterial infection after becoming lethargic and anorexic over two months. He underwent surgery after doctors discovered the abdominal abscess, but did not survive.
A necropsy was planned, zoo officials said.
