Gus (bear)
{{Short description|Polar bear at the Central Park Zoo}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox animal
| name = Gus
| image = Gus the bear.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Gus in November 2011
| birth_name =
| othername =
| species = Ursus maritimus
| breed =
| gender = Male
| birth_date = {{Birth date text|1985}}
| birth_place = Toledo, Ohio, United States
| death_date = {{Death date and given age|2013|08|27|27}}
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality =
| occupation =
| employer =
| role =
| years_active =
| known = 'Neurotic' residency at Central Park Zoo in New York City
| tricks =
| awards =
| title =
| term =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| owner =
| parents = Nanook, Snowball
| children =
| weight =
| height =
| appearance =
| namedafter =
| website =
}}
Gus (1985 – August 27, 2013) was a {{convert|700|lb|adj=on}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/02/nyregion/about-new-york-stay-at-home-swb-8-into-fitness-seeks-thrills.html?src=pm |title=ABOUT NEW YORK; Stay-at-Home SWB, 8, Into Fitness, Seeks Thrills |first=John |last=Kifner |date=July 2, 1994 |access-date=September 1, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=subscription |archive-date=October 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017203152/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/02/nyregion/about-new-york-stay-at-home-swb-8-into-fitness-seeks-thrills.html?src=pm |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-UCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43 |title=It's a Jungle in Here |first=Tad |last=Friend |journal=New York |date=April 24, 1995 |pages=43–50 |access-date=September 1, 2013}} polar bear and icon of the Central Park Zoo in New York City.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/nyregion/gus-new-yorks-most-famous-polar-bear-dies-at-27.html?_r=0 |title=Farewell to Gus, Whose Issues Made Him a Star |first=N.R. |last=Kleinfield |date=August 28, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=September 1, 2013 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=September 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923111054/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/nyregion/gus-new-yorks-most-famous-polar-bear-dies-at-27.html?_r=0 |url-status=live }} His exhibit was visited by over 20 million people during his lifetime. He came to public notice in the 1990s, when he began swimming obsessively in his pool for up to 12 hours a day. Reporters dubbed him "neurotic", "depressed", and "flaky",{{cite web |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/08/gus-depressed-central-park-polar-bear-dead.html |title=Gus, the Depressed Central Park Polar Bear, Dead at 27 |first=Joe |last=Coscarelli |date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=September 1, 2013 |work=New York |archive-date=August 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808161510/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/08/gus-depressed-central-park-polar-bear-dead.html |url-status=live }} turning him into a "symbol of the stress of living in New York City".{{cite web |url=http://m.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/08/gus-central-parks-famously-depressive-polar-bear-has-died/68817/ |title=Gus, Central Park's Famously Depressive Polar Bear, Has Died |first=Esther |last=Zuckerman |date=August 28, 2013 |access-date=September 1, 2013 |work=Atlantic Wire |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130831222826/http://m.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/08/gus-central-parks-famously-depressive-polar-bear-has-died/68817/ |archive-date=August 31, 2013 |url-status=dead}} As part of his therapy and treatment, Gus was the first zoo animal in history to be treated with Prozac.
Birth and early life
Gus was born in the Toledo Zoo in 1985. His father, Nanook, was sent to the Toledo Zoo from his home in the Bronx Zoo for the purposes of breeding. Gus's mother was named Snowball. In 1988, Gus was moved to the Central Park Zoo.
Fame
In the 1990s, Gus became the "face" of the Central Park Zoo for several media promotions and publications.{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/gus-central-park-zoo_n_3829841.html |title=Gus, Central Park Zoo's Polar Bear, Has Died |work=Huffington Post |date=August 28, 2013 |access-date=September 1, 2013 |first=Jessica |last=Leader |archive-date=April 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419060602/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/gus-central-park-zoo_n_3829841.html |url-status=live }} Gus was seen by an estimated 20 million visitors in his lifetime.{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Caroline |title=Saying Goodbye to Gus, the polar bear of central park |url=https://www.upi.com/Science_News/Blog/2013/08/29/Saying-goodbye-to-Gus-the-polar-bear-of-Central-Park/8531377783689/ |work=United Press International |publisher=Caroline Lee |access-date=September 15, 2013 |archive-date=February 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204003444/https://www.upi.com/Science_News/Blog/2013/08/29/Saying-goodbye-to-Gus-the-polar-bear-of-Central-Park/8531377783689/ |url-status=live }}
In 1994 zoo officials began noting Gus's unusual behavior in his habitat. He was seen swimming back and forth in a figure eight pattern, again and again, for up to 12 hours a day. Such behavior in captive animals usually points to boredom and stress.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/beating-polar-bear-boredom/ |title=Beating Polar Bear Boredom |date=February 11, 2009 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=September 10, 2013 |work=CBS News |archive-date=June 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140622020635/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/beating-polar-bear-boredom/ |url-status=live }} The zoo hired an animal behavioral therapist at a cost of $25,000 to determine the reason for Gus's obsessive swimming. According to the therapist, "Gus is just bored and mildly crazy in the way that a lot of people are in New York". He ordered an "enrichment program" for the polar bear that included a redesigned habitat, "challenges" at mealtime, new toys and "positive-reinforcement training sessions". In 2002 the BBC reported that zookeepers had installed a jacuzzi to "cheer up" Gus.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/animals/newsid_2089000/2089842.stm |title=Depressed polar bear cheers up with jacuzzi |date=July 3, 2002 |access-date=September 10, 2013 |work=BBC |archive-date=April 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401110051/http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/animals/newsid_2089000/2089842.stm |url-status=live }} Gus was also the first zoo animal in history to be treated with Prozac.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cf4fLUhVa_EC&pg=PA51 |title=Zoos and Tourism: Conservation, Education, Entertainment? |page=51 |first=Warwick |last=Frost |year=2010 |publisher=Channel View Publications |isbn=978-1845412074}}{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/dogs-feeling-wuff-city-boost-prozac-article-1.262918 |title=Dogs Feeling Wuff in the City Given Prozac |date=January 11, 2007 |access-date=September 1, 2013 |work=New York Daily News |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305222656/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/dogs-feeling-wuff-city-boost-prozac-article-1.262918 |url-status=live }} After a few months, Gus's obsessive swimming tapered off, but never disappeared entirely. He and his two partners, Lily and Ida, were featured at the 2005 International Conference on Environmental Enrichment.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGJ5Nrh0iTYC&pg=PA6 |title=Central Park |first=Edward J. |last=Levine |year=2006 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |page=17 |isbn=0738546275}}
From the publicity surrounding his diagnosis and treatment, Gus became a symbol of the "neurotic" New Yorker. He was the subject of a 1995 satirical book, What's Worrying Gus?: The True Story of a Big-City Bear,{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_d5vp7T3ROUC&q=what%27s+worrying+gus |first1=Henry |last1=Beard |first2=John |last2=Boswell |title=What's Worrying Gus?: The True Story of a Big-City Bear |year=1995 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=0679449507}} which publishers described as a "timeless tale of the quintessential outsider coping with the harsh reality of New York in the '90s". The cover image depicts Gus in a therapist's office. He was also the subject of two children's books, Gus the Bear, the Flying Cat, and the Lovesick Moose: Twenty Real Life Animal Stories (1995){{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbRUcYiwDrcC&q=gus+central+park+zoo |title=Gus the Bear, the Flying Cat, and the Lovesick Moose: Twenty Real Life Animal Stories |first=Daniel |last=Cohen |year=1995 |publisher=Pocket Books |isbn=0671536249}} and Gus: The Feeling-Better Polar Bear (2009),{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yrd78oSSFxkC&dq=gus+central+park+zoo&pg=PR5 |title=Gus: The Feeling-Better Polar Bear |year=2009 |publisher=AuthorHouse |first=Angela |last=Parrino |isbn=978-1449009502}} a play titled Gus and the song "Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park" on the 2004 album In Between Evolution by The Tragically Hip.{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/Gus-Polar-Bear-Central-Park/dp/B0045PPJMK |title=Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park |work=Amazon.com |access-date=September 10, 2013 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305041214/http://www.amazon.com/Gus-Polar-Bear-Central-Park/dp/B0045PPJMK |url-status=live }}
Partners
Gus's partners were Lily, a female polar bear who died in 2004 at age 17, and Ida, who died in 2011 at age 25 of liver disease. He had no offspring.
Final years
According to zoo officials, Gus had exhibited signs of depression since the death of his last partner, Ida, in 2011. In the summer of 2013 he had poor appetite and difficulty chewing and swallowing food. He was placed under anesthesia by zoo veterinarians to determine the cause of his problem; the veterinarians discovered a large, inoperable tumor in the region of his thyroid and decided to euthanize him. At age 27, Gus had exceeded the life expectancy of polar bears in captivity, which averages 20.7 years.
Following Gus's death, the Central Park Zoo closed the exhibit until 2015 when the enclosure re-opened with two new grizzly bears.{{Cite web |title=Central Park Zoo grizzly bear exhibit opening to the public |url=https://7online.com/bear-bears-brown-grizzly/467351/ |access-date=October 23, 2022 |website=WABC-TV |language=en}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{commons category|Gus (polar bear)}}
{{Central Park}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gus (polar bear)}}
Category:Animal deaths by euthanasia
Category:Individual animals in the United States