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Former Henry Doorly Zoo visitor-favorite Bam Bam the polar bear passes away

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KANSAS CITY, MO (KMTV) — The Kansas City Zoo tweeted out that Bam Bam, a visitor-favorite and former resident of the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo, passed away last night.

Bam Bam made the move to Kansas last year to live out the rest of her life in preparation of a new bear display going in at Omaha's zoo. Her health had been good but tests began to show that her liver was failing before she passed away at the age of 31 years old.

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It is with great sadness that the Zoo announces that one of its beloved polar bears, Bam Bam, passed away last night. Although Bam Bam was an older bear, her overall health had been good until very recently. This week, however, preliminary tests showed that her liver was failing. When further tests determined that she had developed untreatable liver cancer, the difficult decision was made to euthanize her. Bam Bam, who was 31 years old, came to us last spring from Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, where she was born in November 1987. She joined Berlin, a 29-year-old female, in Polar Bear Passage. In the wild, polar bears live an average 15 to 18 years. Bam Bam loved peanut butter and also had a fondness for celery. She greatly enjoyed her habitat at the Kansas City Zoo. As her zookeepers cleaned the outdoor area each morning, she would let them know when they were taking too long, as she was always anxious to explore when they finished each day. She loved to swim in the pool and play with her orange boat. Visitors could often see her laying spread out in the grass, occasionally turning her head to munch on her soft bed. Bam Bam is going to be deeply missed by all of the staff, volunteers and visitors of the Kansas City Zoo.

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