Nora darted over a log and through a fake-rock

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1 9 OCTOBER 21, 2017 ALWAYS ON.COM Saturday, October 21, 2017 $1.50 ENVIRONMENT Brown s clean air plan won t clean air soon Rob Davis The Oregonian/OregonLive Gov. Kate Brown s weakened plan for a clean air overhaul, the long-awaited final details of which were released Thursday, is full of what it won t do. The governor s response to the Bullseye Glass crisis won t clean up Oregon s air until at least It won t affect many industrial sources of heavy metals, solvents and other cancer-causing pollution until at least And it won t guarantee that all Oregonians avoid the risk of developing cancer simply from breathing. Brown s plan, which she calls Cleaner Air Oregon, could still be changed before its scheduled adoption next summer. But it has been watered down from a stronger preliminary version after industry and legislative opposition. The governor, who said the effort would be a big step forward when she unveiled it in April 2016, signaled SEE AIR, A5 H&G One-of-a-kind jack-o -lanterns Use a little cellophane, a light source and, of course, a pumpkin to create something unique. B4-5 Nora, almost a year old, had never really known another bear until she came to the Oregon Zoo. Beth Nakamura, staff SPECIAL REPORT PART 4 OF 5 BREAKING POINT Nora finally had a chance to meet another bear, but it wasn t going as planned and her keepers began to worry about her health mentally and physically. Kale Williams The Oregonian/OregonLive Nora darted over a log and through a fake-rock tunnel. The old bear, Tasul, lumbered behind. Nora jumped in the pool and zookeepers held their breath. It was the only part of the Oregon Zoo polar bear enclosure where she could be cornered. For a moment, it looked as if Tasul might go in after her. SEE NORA, A8 The Loneliest Polar Bear Previously: With plenty of humans in her life but still lacking a bear companion, Nora is sent to Portland to meet elder bear Tasul. Next: Read the fifth part of our five-day narrative in Sunday s paper. More online Find videos and interactive graphics at oregonlive.com/projectnora Business, C9 Classifieds, C7 Comics, A17 Crossword NYT, C8 Obituaries, A14 Puzzles, A17 TV, A20 Weather, C11 Rain, wind Copyright 2017, Oregonian Publishing Co., Vol. 167, 56,495, 4 sections 60 / 55 No. Never Clean Your GuttersAgain FREE Estimates Senior,Military &State Employee Discounts Available 15% OFF FREE ESTIMATES XXX-XXX-XXXX *Min. purchase required, offer expires 10/31/17.Offer must be presented at time of estimate, cannot be combined with any other offers and subject to change without notice. Void whereprohibited by law **Subject to credit approval, fixed APR of PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 1

2 OCTOBER 21, 2017 Chapter 4: Breaking Point BY KALE WILLIAMS THE OREGONIAN/ Nora darted over a log and through a fake-rock tunnel. The old bear, Tasul, lumbered behind. Nora jumped in the pool and zookeepers held their breath. It was the only part of the Oregon Zoo polar bear enclosure where she could be cornered. For a moment, it looked as if Tasul might go in after her. T-bear! the keepers called, fire hoses at the ready. The older bear backed off. Animal introductions could be tricky, but zookeeper Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey remained calm. She had known Tasul for more than 15 years, and she could tell when the bear was frightened, irritable or aggressive. Tasul showed none of those signs as she followed Nora. She was just curious. The exhibit was closed to the public for the introductions, but the zoo released a video of Nora tentatively walking the yard, obviously alarmed by Tasul s presence. In the news release accompanying the video, the zoo described their first meeting as extremely positive, but going in slow motion. In truth, Nora was starting to buckle under the stress. PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 2

3 Tasul (left) and Nora meet in the Oregon Zoo polar bear enclosure. OREGON ZOO Back in the dens, Nora grew inconsolable. She barked like an angry seal, loud enough to be heard outside the building. Not even her favorite toys and treats could pierce the fog. Soon after the keepers from Columbus dropped off Nora in Oregon, she d begun exhibiting stereotypical behaviors, repetitive actions that have no obvious purpose. She pawed at the concrete, digging imaginary holes. She paced in circles, bumping into toys but ignoring them. She fixated on her keepers, and any time they left the room, she threw a tantrum. Captive animals can develop emotional and psychological problems. Elephants sway, gorillas hold their knees and rock, birds pluck themselves bald. Perhaps the most famous animal to exhibit these symptoms was Gus, a polar bear at the Central Park Zoo in New York. In the mid- 90s, Gus started swimming laps in the pool. Over and over again, sometimes for 12-hour stretches, he swam the same figure-eight pattern. Zoo visitors PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 3

4 found it whimsical and ticket sales jumped, but his keepers grew concerned. Gus was called neurotic and the bipolar bear. The zoo paid $25,000 to a consultant who concluded Gus was bored. The zoo gave Gus complicated puzzles, toys and a playroom. His repetitive behavior lessened but never went away. Nora wasn t bored just lonely and scared. Her symptoms got worse as the meetings with Tasul continued. After a session with Tasul, Nora panicked and paced for hours. Even when the bears were apart, her keepers sensed Nora was apprehensive, as if she thought the older bear might be lurking. She wasn t getting better. Mitch Finnegan, an Oregon Zoo veterinarian, prescribed Alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax. She took a pill once in the morning and another in the evening, hidden in ground horse meat, for a total of 4 milligrams a day. She paced less, but she remained anxious. Her dosage was upped to 6 milligrams per day. Two weeks after that, Nora still paced. The zoo called in an animal behavior specialist who recommended a different approach. Nora was put on Fluoxetine, a generic version of the antidepressant Prozac. The older bear had gotten used to company. She d been with her twin brother, Conrad, for years before he died two months earlier. Over the next few days, the older bear tried to make herself approachable. She looked away when Nora got close. She lowered herself to the ground to appear smaller. She tried to entice Nora to play, but Nora wasn t interested. Everyone involved with Nora s upbringing the Nora Moms in Columbus, her caretakers in Oregon and experts brought in to consult stressed the importance of socialization. Nora needed to learn to be a bear, and the only way to do that was to spend time with one. PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 4

5 BENJAMIN BRINK/2010 Oregon Zoo keeper Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey brushes a polar bear s teeth with a household toothbrush and taped-on extension. At the heart of Nora s story is a complicated question: Are zoos helping animals or hurting them? People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has taken a hard stance against zoos. Some parents won t take their young children to see animals they say are being exploited for our entertainment. But few animals live as nature intended anymore. Not the rhinos, who are butchered for their horns; or the elephants, who are out of space; not the orangutans, who have lost their homes to palm oil plantations. Not the manatee, the mountain gorilla, the poison dart frog or even our own pets. We dose our dogs with Prozac, like Nora, as they chew their tails and bark all day. More than 180 million people around the world visit zoos every year. By that measure, the demand for them is self-evident. Animals at reputable zoos are vaccinated, dewormed and fed on schedule. Bears PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 5

6 STEPHANIE YAO LONG/STAFF Zoos often promote the positive news about their animals, but are less likely to talk about the bad news. get their teeth brushed. Elephants stand for ultrasounds. Giraffes get their hooves trimmed. Zoo animals live much longer than their wild counterparts, and when they get sick, they don t fall prey to a faster predator or get picked apart by scavengers. Animal rights groups argue that zoos focus on endangered species that are considered charismatic, such as the polar bear, because they draw crowds. But a zoo full of frogs could never generate enough ticket sales to pay for the research into why frogs are disappearing in the wild. To save frogs, zoos need animals like Nora. More than anything, though, critics of zoos say containing animals for any reason is cruel and makes them crazy and bored. That criticism puts zoos on the defensive with the media. Keepers and PR staff refer to enclosures, habitats or exhibits, but not cages. Access behind the scenes, when granted, usually comes with a caveat banning photography to prevent the PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 6

7 public from seeing bars. PR staff at zoos rarely release information when animals are faring poorly. None of Nora s ailments, physical or emotional, were revealed to her adoring fans when they were discovered. Not in Columbus and not in Portland. Metabolic bone disease and Prozac never made it into press releases about her milestones or into videos of her cute antics. It s anyone s guess how many other zoo animals suffer through similar problems. Zoos sell a narrative of research, conservation and the highest standards of animal welfare. In most cases, the narrative is true. But it doesn t fully answer the charge made by animal rights groups that some creatures just don t do well outside their natural environment. Animals like Nora present an impossible predicament. In the wild, she would have died soon after her mom left her alone. Without human intervention back in Ohio, she likely wouldn t have survived the day. But confinement was crippling her body and her mind. The love of her keepers, and her fans, was not quite enough. Tasul had been slowing down for months. She was old and arthritic. In the wild, she probably wouldn t have lasted this long. Wild bears usually don t live past 20. Captive bears rarely make it to 30. When keepers noticed blood in her mucus, they ordered an ultrasound. It showed abnormal growths in her abdomen. A biopsy confirmed early-stage kidney failure. Veterinarians also suspected an ovarian tumor. She needed surgery. Mitch fired a dart filled with sedatives into the old bear s thick hide and she went down in minutes. Together, the keepers rolled her onto a cargo net and lifted her into a zoo van for the short ride from the polar bear enclosure to the medical center. PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 7

8 BENJAMIN BRINK/2013 Captive bears rarely live past the age of 30. Tasul was 31 when a biopsy confirmed early-stage kidney failure and zoo staff decided she needed surgery. In the operating room, Mitch stood to the side as the surgeon made a nearly 10-inch incision lengthwise along Tasul s belly. When they opened her up, it was worse than they had suspected. Cancer lined the inner wall of her body cavity from her pelvis to her kidneys. Her lymph nodes were inflamed. She had likely been in a great deal of pain. Mitch believed she couldn t be helped. He picked up the phone. Nicole was home with a bad case of the flu when she got the call. The decision was heartbreaking but clear. Mitch helped administer a cocktail of pentobarbital to further sedate her and potassium chloride to stop her heart. Tasul died within minutes. Afterward, Nicole arrived at the zoo. Tasul lay on the operating table while her keep- PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 8

9 ers cried and traded stories during a makeshift wake. They could touch her as much as they wanted now. Just days after she had shared the enclosure with Tasul, Nora found herself alone again. For the first time in Oregon, the keepers put her on public display, allowing her to build a whole new fan base. She seemed to thrive when she had an audience. Before Tasul died, the gift shop had devoted its most prominent real estate to polar bear T-shirts, polar bear snow globes, polar bear ceramic statuettes, polar bear water bottles. Nora s name was embossed in gold letters on black ribbon tied loosely around the neck of every one of the smaller stuffed bears. A fluffy jumbo polar bear sat atop the display case with a much smaller stuffed animal tucked under its big left paw. It was meant to depict Nora s new harmonious life with Tasul. But the staging on the display shelf was the closest the two bears would get. Winter brought snow to Portland, and for the first time, visitors saw Nora in an environment that looked similar to her natural habitat. She romped through the yard as fat flakes fell around her. She pressed close to the glass as zoo staff engaged her in a game of peekaboo. In one of the coldest and snowiest winters the Pacific Northwest had ever seen, Nora s warm breath steamed the glass. After visitors left, she interacted with the security guards, following them along the exhibit and splashing in the pool to get their attention. She put her nose to the glass, trying to smell their coffee. When custodians washed the windows with giant, furry cleaning mitts, Nora s paws mirrored them from the other side. Nora was ornery before the crowds arrived. She stomped and chuffed. To Nicole, it seemed like Nora was complaining that no one had come to see her. PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 9

10 STEPHANIE YAO LONG/STAFF Nora seems to enjoy the attention of visitors to the Oregon Zoo. To zookeepers, it often seems Nora complaining before and after the zoo opens, concerned that no one has come to see her. As soon as the first people showed up, the growls stopped and Nora belly-flopped into the pool straight toward the windows. It was great for social media videos and for the crowds. But that isn t how polar bears are supposed to act. It s impossible to know all the lessons that Nora would have learned from her mother if she d stayed with her, but experts know that key skills are impulse and temper control. Of the eight species of bear, only polar bears are dedicated hunters. They rarely scav- PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 10

11 Nora plays in an ice pool in an October 2016 social media video that gathered thousands of views. OREGON ZOO enge or forage. They hunt seals on sea ice, a skill that requires cunning and patience, traits usually taught by mom. Nora had not learned those lessons. She paced less, either because of the medication or because she was settling in now that Tasul was gone. But she was still prone to tantrums. She barked and batted her food bowls across the floor. When frustrated or anxious, she turned her back on her keepers, shunning them. The fits were hard for the keepers to watch, but all animals, even humans, need to learn to deal with adversity. Her handlers talked constantly about how to help her. Soon after Tasul died, Jen Degroot and the other keepers started a relaxation exercise for polar bears they called Zen sessions. On a rainy day in December, Jen prepared for one of the sessions, loading a pie tin with lake smelt. Nora was only a year old, but she could read people and their PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 11

12 energy. Jen took a series of deep breaths to center herself. A few steps from the zoo kitchen, down a corridor lined with barred doors, Jen called out to Nora, who came lumbering up to an opening. Jen knelt on a piece of cardboard to insulate her knees from the cold concrete and began to offer fish through a gap in the bars. No words were spoken, but Nora lay down immediately, head resting on her fluffy paws. Jen began feeding Nora the smelt at 5-second intervals. To a casual observer, it wouldn t look very Zen, but Jen took careful mental notes. Between fish, the cub let out a low growl and shook her head. Her vocalizations were important. If she could wait for the next fish without stressing, it meant she was learning patience. Nora was still in a critical stage of development. What she learned during her first two years would dictate how she interacted with other bears, which would be important for breeding. And it would affect her quality of life, which, to her keepers, was most important. The keepers practiced the Zen sessions with Nora every day. She improved through winter and early spring, but Nora was still missing something that her keepers couldn t provide: the companionship of another bear. The zoo had been planning for years to tear down its polar bear facility and build a new one. Demolition had been postponed twice for Nora s sake. With Tasul gone, the zoo would not be bringing in another bear. They d be shipping Nora out. She needed a new home. Again. One April morning, Nicole watched Nora walk up a ramp toward her den. The young bear seemed playful, as usual, but her gait was off. PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 12

13 OREGON ZOO In May, the Oregon Zoo took a new set of X-rays of Nora. They showed the effects of her bone disorder and deformities in her left elbow. That s really weird, Nicole thought to herself. That s new. Nora was favoring her front left leg. It looked like the elbow bowed out just a little. Nicole called the zoo vet, who came by later that day. By the time Mitch arrived, Nora couldn t put pressure on her left front leg, and her elbow jutted out as she walked. She d developed a habit of jumping into the pool and slamming against the window with her front paws. Mitch hoped she was just sore from playing, but he suspected it was more. Mitch knew about her history with metabolic bone disease, so he asked the vets in Columbus for Nora s old X-rays. In May, Nora was still limping. Mitch sedated her and took another set of X-rays. PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 13

14 One of the bones in her forearm was stunted, and because the pieces didn t fit right, her elbow was being forced out. He sent the X-rays to orthopedic surgeons around the country. All joints are trashed, a vet from another zoo wrote in the assessment. She is or will be an arthritic mess, especially because she is such a big animal. The surface where Nora s bones met was so F-ed up, the vet wrote. Joints require a high degree of precision, especially in an animal like Nora, who now weighed 330 pounds. If the bones don t match perfectly, like a piston in a cylinder, the joints wear out. That was happening to Nora. During those few weeks back in Columbus when she didn t get sufficient vitamins and calcium, Nora s bones had softened and her left elbow had become deformed. Her keepers in Ohio thought they had corrected the problem, but they hadn t. Any surgery would be complicated and might make things worse. Operating on Nora was ruled out. Meanwhile, her anxiety and aggression intensified. It was hard to tell if she had outgrown the dose of antidepressants or if she was in pain, but Mitch upped her dose of Prozac either way. He added two daily doses of anti-inflammatory pain medications to the schedule of drugs Nora was taking. Experts recommended she spend as much time as possible in the water to ease the load on her joints. Nora already loved the water. Other than that, there was little they could do. END OF CHAPTER 4 PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 14

15 BONUS FACTS: THE POLAR BEAR AVERAGE WEIGHT: 330 TO 1,200 POUNDS SPEED: 3.4 MILES PER HOUR ON LAND, 6 MILES PER HOUR IN THE WATER AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: 15 TO 18 YEARS IN THE WILD, 20 TO 30 YEARS IN CAPTIVITY SCIENTIFIC NAME: URSUS MARITIMUS HABITAT: THE ARCTIC ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT STATUS: THREATENED IT IS ESTIMATED THERE ARE 22,000 TO 27,000 WILD POLAR BEARS IN THE ARCTIC STAFF PROJECT NORA: THE LONELIEST POLAR BEAR 15