Last January, a birthday party was held at the Salisbury Zoo. It was a celebration of a certain special someone turning 37 years old. Who has their 37th birthday party at the zoo? A special bear named Poopsie, that’s who. Poopsie was the oldest Andean bear in the entire world and she lived in Salisbury, MD.

Poopsie was less than two months away from her 38th birthday when she passed away last week. On November 9th, Poopsie went into the record books as the oldest Andean bear, and left her zoo exhibit mate, another bear, behind.

“She was the highlight of many zoo tours,” Said Jessica Renshaw, a public educator at the zoo, about Poopsie.

Andean bears, also known as spectacle bears because of their distinctive eye markings, rarely live past the age of 20 when in the wilderness. A wild bear can live a stressful life full of traveling through the wild and searching for food that is sporadically available. In captivity, Andean bears may live to be up to roughly 40 years of age, like Poopsie.

Poopsie was known for pacing back and forth along the far wall of her home, swinging cozily in a big hammock, or using her large paws to paddle around the watering hole in her exhibit. Poopsie had been considered a geriatric animal for several years. With a decreasing appetite and vanishing mobility skills, Poopsie’s daily eating habits became a struggle.  She refused to eat. The large bear, that once weighed almost 150 pounds, started to have an extremely tough time moving around her exhibit.  Last week, the medical team at the zoo decided that the aging spectacle bear should be put to sleep because she was in obvious discomfort and pain due to old age.

“She will be missed… She was a joy to work with,” said Salisbury Zoo intern, Jennifer Jacobs, earlier this week.

Currently, Poopsie’s exhibit is vacant. There is one more Andean bear living at the Salisbury Zoo. The zoo, that occupies 13-acres downtown, provides naturalistic exhibits and homes to hundreds of animals that are native to the Americas.

Since 1954, the Salisbury Zoological Park (755 South Park Drive) has been considered an educational resource on the Eastern Shore. There are no admission fees to pay and no long lines to stand in. 

 

Operating hours are: open every day (except for Thanksgiving and Christmas) from 9 am – 4:30 pm unless inclimate weather strikes. Donations are appreciated and are accepted at either park entrance. The generous donations received are used to keep the zoo functioning properly and ensure that the animals are well cared for.

Several spectators were at the zoo over the weekend in remembrance of Poopsie. After walking through the zoo and seeing the spider monkeys, jaguars, wolves, turkeys, deer, and sloths, many paused at Poopsie’s exhibit to think about the beloved furry bear.