“SAM'S” TRAGEDY

Evening Star, Issue 19062, 3 October 1925, Page 3

“SAM'S” TRAGEDY

ZOO POLAR BEAR TO HIE

A PATHETIC HISTORY. “Sam,” the famous Polar bear at the Zoological Gardens, lies under sentence of death (says the ‘ Observer ’ of August 28). He has been suffering from senile decay for many months, and the authorities have been reluctantly compelled to take tills decision. Bears are what are called by animal experts “ good livers,” and Bam has maintained the reputation of his breed, for he has survived to the age of twenty-four. The average lifetime of his kind in, captivity ranges from twenty to thirty years, but after the ago of twenty their teeth rapidly decay, and attendant evils usually cause their break-up. Poor Sam has become a pitiable object. He could not masticate bis food. He became too weak to take his bath, and for many months has gone unwashed, with the result that 1.0 became a prey to flies, and ho was a misery to himself ns well at being an object of misery to others. as lie had grown to lio n menace to the health of his neighbors on the Mappin Terraces, the authorities had no alternative but to pronounce his sentence. • Bam was just two years old when; be was purchased for the Zoo on November 3, 1903, for the trifling sun of eighteen guineas. lie came from Zcmbla, and when he _ came td the Cardens ho was a debonair youngster with plenty of high spirits, and might often be seen gambolling m the water or playing at ball. After lie had lived a bachelor life for ten months, the authorities found him a mate Lu Barbara, a female of an uncertain past, about his own age. The union, was a fairly happy one as bear marriages go, 'though Barham, porlmps, rather more than held her own. Duriiicr their married life they hadtwelve litters of cubs, but failed to raise ona of them. On these occasions Sam was shut away from, his partner, who wgs allowed to nurse her offspring. It 13 regrettable to record, however, that she proved anything but au ideal mother. Bho showed a strong disinclination to suckle her cubs, and left thorn to their own devices, with the natural result that they pined, and were finished off by tho London, fogs, as they were generally born in tho winter. DEATH OF BARBARA. After a married life of nineteen years, Barbara herself passed away on January 28, 1023, and was mourned by a. largo" public, Sam, although he had bestowed no particular marks of affection on Barbara in her lifetime, obviously grieved jit her do£ith ? and frit Ills' loneliness. lie wandered un and down, uttering a “ chourgbteg sound—half a grunt and half a cry—and, standing on his iiind legs, ho would endeavor to see oyer the Ugh partition winch separtaod him from three Polar neighbors in tho next section of tho 'Mappin Terraco—two at tractive voting females and a young male Polar bear. The, authorities considered that Bam might bo happier if they supplied him with a second mate, so ' they accordingly introduced him io lizzie, one of his next-door neighbors, then at ilie height of her charms, and a female of some six years of age. Sam’s advances were not received too' -iracioiislv bv Ins new partner, who ‘repaid bis snuffling '■ :i!j nmtries with a lap on his nose, and what should have been a pleasant flirtation ended in a “scrap.” Bam wasnever really devoted to Lizzie. and they soon settled down to a perfectly p{atonic friendship, which lasted_ till about six mouths ago, when Lizzie could boar the boredom of tier married life no longer. One day .she made a bold bid for freedom bv jumping down into the ditch at tho root of the rJerrace. a depth of twelve feet. She was uninjured, but after this decided display of dislike' for her partner she was allowed, to rejoin her Conner companions next door. THE FATAL HOTJB. From that lirno Bam has lived entirely alone, becoming more misanthropic even- day. He would _ allow himself to be enticed out of his den by tho offer of a tempting piece of meat, ami sit sunning himself in his doorway, but never once would ha attempt 'to taka a bath. Such an unpleasant sight did Sam become that tho authorities thought it wiser to coniine him, in the end, to his private quarters. Mystery has surrounded the actual hour of 'Sam’s death. It has been stated that he would bo shot at dawrj to-morrow morning. As a matter of fact, by tho time these lines appear in print the famous old bear will be already dead.