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Szenja, a female polar bear has died unexpectedly (Picture: SeaWorld via AP)

A polar bear held in captivity at SeaWorld has died unexpectedly.

Szenja was a 21-year-old female who had spent her entire live in various cages and enclosures at tourist attractions.

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Caregivers said she has had a loss of appetite and energy for about a week.

A spokesperson for the park, in San Diego, says she died Tuesday.


A necropsy is planned, but the park says it could be several weeks before the official cause of her death is known.

Szenja was born at a zoo in Germany in 1995.

Szenja started refusing food a week ago (Picture: SeaWorld San Diego via Getty)

Two years later, she was brought to SeaWorld when the park opened its Wild Arctic exhibit.



Polar bears can live about 18 years in the wild and 20 to 30 years or more in captivity.

The oldest polar bear in the United States, a female called Uulu, died last Friday at the San Francisco Zoo. She was 36.