Local black bear dies at age 27

Tana, a black bear who has resided at Buchanan County's Fontana Park since 1983, died early Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010, at age 27.

A generation of visitors to the park's animals exhibit will miss her, said Sondra Cabell, a naturalist with the Buchanan County Conservation Department.

Tana had been suffering the infirmities of old age, which included painful arthritis, limited mobility and incontinence, according to Dan Cohen, director of the Conservation Department.

“We had been giving her medication for pain, but in the end we had to put her down. It was a difficult decision to end her suffering, and it's pretty sad around here today,” said Cohen, who had known the bear since he joined the department nearly 25 years ago.

Tana (short for Fontana) got her name in a contest for Buchanan County school students, Cohen said.

“She had a pleasant disposition and was a favorite of all the visitors to the park's animals exhibit. She always liked to be sprayed with a hose on hot summer days,” Cohen said.

Tana, who arrived at Fontana Park as a 5 month-old-cub, was a central part of the park's efforts to educate visitors about native animals that had been extirpated from Iowa.

As a cub, she often followed caretakers around during morning chores and was handled by them, cabell said.

Though Tana is gone, Fontana Park still has a black bear in its wildlife display. Bear Bear, a female, came to the park six years ago as a pet that no longer fit the definition of a pet, Cabell said.

Because Iowa has since outlawed keeping a “dangerous wild animal” as a pet, it is unlikely the park will ever have another “former pet” bear, she said.