Baffin the polar bear dies at the Calgary Zoo [Video]

The Wild Canada zone at the Wilder Institute Calgary Zoo was closed Friday after one of the zoo’s two polar bears — a seven-year-old male named Baffin — did not resurface from the pool and died.

Jamie Dorgan, the zoo’s interim chief executive officer and chief operating officer, said the two bears were sparring around 11:30 a.m. — which he called normal behaviour — when Baffin went into the pool and didn’t resurface.

The zoo has one other polar bear: a second male named Siku. Both bears arrived at the zoo last October from a zoo in Manitoba.

Dorgan said Siku was moved away and Baffin was pulled out the pool, at which point staff confirmed he had died.

“It’s obviously a huge shock today for our staff and volunteers, to learn of this incredibly surprising situation,” Dorgan said.

The body has been taken away and a necropsy will be performed.