1-year-old sloth bear, Bowie, undergoes surgery and will be off view for several weeks while recovering

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications
Photos: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

1-year-old female sloth bear Bowie is behind the scenes for several weeks, recovering from surgery to repair a broken bone.

Bowie, a 1-year-old, female sloth bear at Woodland Park Zoo, is recovering from surgery to repair a fractured femur in her right thigh. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Duane Robinson and his surgical team joined the zoo’s animal health staff on Sunday to help the bear.

Bowie is recovering from surgery in the quiet, off-view den where the animal keepers can monitor her closely while she heals. She and her mom, Kushali, who continues to be with her daughter during recovery, will be off view for six to eight weeks.

Bowie and her attentive mom, Kushali, are together in a quiet behind the scenes den where our animal care staff can monitor her while she heals.

Fracture repair surgery is commonly known as open reduction and internal fixation. “Once the fracture was reduced with good alignment, bone plates and wires were installed to provide strength and ensure good healing. We’ll keep Bowie under close observation and on a prescribed program of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and analgesics,” said Dr. Tim Storms, veterinarian and Director of Animal Health at Woodland Park Zoo. “Bowie will have a follow-up appointment in several weeks to assess her healing process. Young bears are very resilient. I am hopeful that she will recover fully from her injury and have normal use of her leg.”

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Duane Robinson and his surgical team joined Dr. Tim Storms and Woodland Park Zoo's animal health staff on Sunday for the surgery.

A diagnostic radiographic procedure was done on Friday, which revealed the femoral fracture, immediately after keepers observed Bowie keeping her right leg off the ground. It’s unknown how she sustained the injury. “We checked footage from the closed-circuit camera in the den but were unable to determine any particular incident that may have caused the injury,” said Christine Verador, an Animal Care Manager at Woodland Park Zoo.

The expert veterinary team used special plates and wires to provide strength for Bowie's bone and to ensure good healing.

Bowie was born at Woodland Park Zoo to mom Kushali and dad Bhutan; they are the only sloth bears currently at the zoo. Bowie celebrated her first birthday last month and was named in honor of David Bowie, with whom she shares the same birthday, January 8. Zoo guests can encounter sloth bears in Banyan Wilds which is also home to Malayan tigers, Asian small-clawed otters and a tropical aviary.

Sloth bears live in forests and grasslands in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Their shaggy, dusty, black coats deflect sunlight, protecting them from the extremes of tropical heat. A vulnerable species, sloth bears’ survival is challenged by conflicts with humans and habitat loss and fragmentation.

Woodland Park Zoo partners with other zoos and conservation organizations in India and Sri Lanka to protect sloth bears and help communities coexist through the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Sloth Bear SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) program.