A grizzly bear that went from stealing coolers and backpacks at Yellowstone to spending 25 years at the North Carolina Zoo has been euthanized by workers there, officials announced Wednesday.
Yepani, known in his final years for his “gentle and patient personality,” lived well past the life expectancy for a bear in the wild — but suffered “clinical symptoms of intervertebral disk disease.”
Male grizzlies in the wild live about 10 years.
The backpack bandit arrived in North Carolina in November 1994 by way of Woodland Park Zoo in Oregon.
His 650-pound bear buddy Tommo — who also loved to give tourists grief at Yellowstone National Park — joined him in North Carolina a few months later.
“Yepani was smaller than Tommo but was definitely mightier,” said Alexis Rowe, one of his zookeepers. “Because of his smaller size, the staff gave him nicknames including ‘Little Bear,’ ‘Teacup Bear’ and ‘Rollie Pollie.’”
Leaving his life of crime behind, Yepani’s favorite pastimes at the zoo included rolling around in fresh mulch.
Millions of people have visited Yepani, who was the North Carolina Zoo’s first grizzly bear.
“Yepani was a wonderful, and important, ambassador for the plight of bears in the wild and will not be forgotten,” said Pat Simmons, director of the zoo. “I count myself privileged to have been part of his life, and I of his, for the last 25 years.”
Zoo guests can continue to see Tommo.
There are currently only an estimated 55,000 wild grizzly bears in North America, most of which live in Alaska, according to the release. Only 1,500 grizzlies inhabit the lower 48 states of the US.
“Nuisance bears” like Yepani and Tommo lost their fear of humans because they start to see people as suppliers of food — posing safety risks when the two meet.
“Unfortunately, bears like Yepani usually end up being euthanized because of this human-bear conflict,” according to the news release.