Agee, a very special bear, passes away

Agee - Photo from the Assiniboine Zoo.

Agee was a remarkable bear, part of a human family, a star in films and TV commercials. She passed away this week from the ravages of old age, at 30. She lived most of her life with people, but spent the past several years behind the scenes, without other bears and being pampered by keepers, in the Assiniboine Zoo in Winnipeg.

She was born January 3, 1995 in Kolmarden, Sweden, the 11th  and final cub born to Mirsha. She was raised by keepers, so from the beginning, she was used to humans. That may be why the zoo allowed her to be sold to Beyond Bears in British Columbia in Canada when she was four months old. 

Kolmarden Zoo stopped keeping polar bears about 20 years ago.

She lived with her trainer Mark Dumas and his human family for most of her life, until they were unable to care for her, when she was transferred in 2022 to Assiniboine Zoo, where she lived a quiet life away from the public eye. 

She first appeared in the 1996 movie "Alaska," in which she played a cub.  Agee would travel to movie sets in a 12-metre-long trailer and was provided with a pool to wade in on hot days.  Agee's film credits include Alaska (1996), The Journey Home (2014) and Operation Arctic (2014).  Agee was also the subject a 2017 episode of the documentary series  "Wild Animal in My Family," Season 2 episode 1. She was featured in episodes of the TV series  "Psych," and "Arctic Air." I also remember her appearing in a car commercial.

Just about everyone has seen the famous video of Agee swimming in a pool with her trainer Mark Dumas. 

Marissa, born in 1993, was full sister of Agee. Marissa moved to Fasano Italy and became mother of Giovanna of Munich, Noel of Copenhagen, Dea (now in Japan) and Grace of Fasano. 

Agee's niece Giovanna nursing Nela and Nobby.
Giovanna is also mother of Quintana.

Noel of Copenhagen, niece of Agee

Read on to find out who else is related to Agee.

In those earlier days, when Agee was born, zoos didn't seem to worry much about genetics or inbreeding, like they do today. Agee's mother Mirsha and her father Imarac were half sister and brother, sharing the same father, Olaf Wildfang, who was also the father of famous Churchill (father of Rostock's V cubs and also father of rescued circus bear Boris), Kara (mother of Boris), Lisa (mother of Lars, grandmother of Knut) and Norpol (father of Japan's Cookie). 

As far as half-siblings for Agee, in Kolmarden Zoo in Sweden, Agee and Marissa's father Imarac was also father of cubs with American born CW, who came from the Memphis Zoo. Their offspring were Nuuk-Nordman and Ilka of the Skandinavisk Dyrepark; Manasse of Finland, Yukime of Japan, all passed away. Agee's only surviving half-sibling, daughter of Imarac, is Baffin of Hamamatsu Japan, whose daughter is Momo.  

Huggies of Ouwehands spent almost two years in Kolmarden, where she gave birth to daughter Freedom, who was fathered by Agee's half brother Nuuk-Nordman. Freedom and Huggies returned to Ouwenhands in the Netherlands and Freedom became mother to Sprinter, twins Sesi and Siku (Taiko), twins Akiak and Sura, and twins Yuka and Yura, all but the last two fathered by Churchill's son Victor. 

Agee's half sister Ilka, now gone, was mother of Danish Siku, and twins Nuno and Nanu, all born in Skandinavisk Dyrepark in Denmark.

Agee's half brother Manasse moved to Finland and with Victor's daughter Venus fathered Ranzo and Sisu.

This is the statement from the zoo about Agee, and their fondness for this special bear.

We are saddened to share that our senior polar bear Agee passed away late last week.

Agee arrived in our care in 2022 as a geriatric bear in need of rescue. She lived a quiet, private life behind the scenes and has not been visible to Zoo guests, but immediately stole the hearts of her care team who have bonded deeply with her over their time together.

Since her arrival, the Zoo’s animal health team has been managing multiple age-related health conditions in Agee. These were primarily related to kidney failure, her dental health, and her mobility. Over the past month, Agee seemed to be doing quite well, and she had even gained weight. Last week she had a sudden onset, severe deterioration in her health. We believe she had a rapid, significant decline in her kidney function, potentially associated with an infection. Sadly, despite the medical intervention of our team, Agee passed away. Agee was 30 years old.

Further investigation into her sudden decline in health is ongoing and involves postmortem examinations of various tissues, screening for different types of infections, and evaluating organ functions at specialty veterinary pathology laboratories. These tests may provide further insight on Agee’s condition at the time of her passing.

Agee could be very set in her ways, our team was on Agee’s schedule and living in Agee’s world! She preferred a calm environment, familiar people, and she found comfort in predictable routines.

She loved to swim and spent much of her time cruising around in her personal pool. She would often take enrichment items and food to her bed (aka her nest) and could be spotted cuddling with her toys. Some of her favourite things included carboard boxes, rain barrels, and nesting materials like straw and hay.

Agee spent most of her life with private owners in British Columbia who were no longer able to care for her. Her short time here at Assiniboine Park Zoo was deeply meaningful to her caregivers. Please join us in offering our sincere condolences to those members of our team who loved Agee and cared for her every day.