ONE of three bears which had become star attractions at the Wild Ireland animal sanctuary in Co Donegal has died while undergoing surgery.
Donegal solicitor Killian McLaughlin confirmed that brown bear Aurnia died while under a general anaesthetic at the weekend.
The Co Donegal man fulfilled a lifetime ambition last November when he opened the sanctuary at Burnfoot on the Derry/Donegal border.
Mr McLaughlin brought animals from all over the world to the site, which quickly became a popular attraction.
Among the animals were three wolves, a lynx, a golden eagle, snowy owls, monkeys and other species which were given freedom to roam in huge enclosures.
In many cases, the animals were rescued from atrocious living conditions.
The star attractions of the park have been the three bears, which were brought from Lithuania, and the wolves, which were named Fergus, Oisín and Finn.
Confirming the death of Aurnia, Mr McLaughlin said he and the veterinary team made desperate efforts when the bear stopped breathing but they were unable to save her.
“Our beautiful brown bear Aurnia, our golden lady, had two broken canine teeth and they had started to give her a lot of pain and a lot of trouble.
“We brought in a team of specialist vets which had the skills and the tools to do dentistry work on a bear."
The procedure involved putting Aurnia under general anaesthetic which, Mr McLaughlin said, was always a risk.
“Sadly, during the procedure Aurnia stopped breathing and I tried to do chest compressions; the team were doing chest compressions with her for about 45 minutes but unfortunately we couldn’t get her to start breathing again and we lost her."
Mr McLaughlin said staff at Wild Ireland are devastated at Aurnia’s death but take some solace from the fact that they had rescued her from a life in a small cage in Lithuania.
“She was here for just over a year. She had a pretty good life here and that’s the only thing that’s consoling us all. We all loved her dearly,” he said.
