Sad news has come from the Moscow Zoo - the famous polar bear named Dixon, rescued a year ago after being seriously wounded in the Arctic, has died, writes “Argumenty i Fakty” with reference to the zoo’s Telegram channel.

“Dixon died. It’s hard for us to accept what happened and it’s hard for us to report it to you, to all those who have been following the life of our dear bear for a year, worrying and hoping for his recovery”, - zoo staff said about the bear’s death.

Last year, an injured polar bear was found paralyzed in a garbage heap on Dixon Island. It turned out that the bear was shot and the shot damaged its spine, paralyzing its hind legs. Dixon was flown to Moscow for treatment, although veterinarians did not give any predictions as to whether the bear would live.

Contrary to fears, Dixon began to recover, although his hind legs remained paralyzed. Despite this, the animal led a fairly active lifestyle: it moved around the enclosure, swam happily in the pool, and even tried to hunt. He interacted with zoo employees and loved to tinker with the gifts that were regularly sent to him.

Recently, Dixon has become worse, he left the enclosure less often, and began to eat poorly. The bear was diagnosed with a urinary and respiratory tract infection and progression of spinal cord damage due to injury.

Dixon died in his sleep from cardiopulmonary failure leading to cardiac arrest.