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Incidence of Fractures in Polar Bears
A recent national survey1 revealed 18 fractures in 11 animals:
- 4 concurrent radial and ulnar fractures
- 2 radial fractures
- 2 concurrent tibial and fibula fractures
- 1 concurrent tibial and femoral fracture
- 1 femoral fracture
- 1 scapular fracture
Notes:
So we did some investigating and found that fractures in captive polar bears are not uncommon. In our survey, we discovered 11 polar bears that had sustained fractures. Here, we have broken down the cases by the bones involved. The vast majority of these cases occurred within the last 15 years. One of the cases of radial fracture occurred in the 1970’s.