World News for Students of English

27-08-2014 07:00

A polar bear believed to be the last surviving on the continent of Africa has died, after months of “pining” for his long-time polar bear partner.

On Wednesday, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo said polar bear Wang had to be put down, after suffering liver and heart failure.

Born in 1984, Wang was said to be heartbroken and depressed, taking the death of his life-long mate, Gee-Bee, very hard – tearing up toys and grass in the enclosure that they shared.

Thirty-year-old Gee-Bee was found dead on January 13 in the pool of her Johannesburg Zoo enclosure, after suffering a heart attack. The two had been partners since they arrived at the South African zoo in 1985, each of them barely a year old. At the age of 30, Wang was considered to have reached the full lifespan for a polar bear in captivity. Staff at the Johannesburg Zoo said that they were “distraught“.

Difficult words: pine (suffer because of a broken heart), tear (pull something into pieces), enclosure (area surrounded by a barrier), lifespan (length of time for which an animal lives), distraught (very worried and upset).

Source: www.itn.co.uk