The Museum of Life and Science euthanized an 18-year-old black bear last week after discovering an inoperable cancerous mass, the Durham museum announced Monday.
Gus had been at the museum on West Murray Avenue since arriving as a cub in 2006.
Staff had noticed a dramatic change in his behavior, according to a news release. Veterinarians from the N.C. State University College of Veterinary Medicine discovered the mass near his heart and lungs during an examination and, based on his prognosis and age, euthanized him on Wednesday.
“Gus was one of those souls that brought people (and bears) together,” Sherry Samuels, senior director of Animal Care at the museum, said in the release. “His behavior with other bears, young and old, as well as what he did on his own, has made many of us smile, laugh, moan, roll our eyes, and just look at him in awe.”
Black bears generally live no more than 10 years in the wild, though the oldest in North Carolina was known to be 26, according to the N.C Wildlife Resources Commission.