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SALT LAKE CITY — Nora, Hogle Zoo’s playful polar bear, appears to be rehabbing well after surgery to repair a broken bone in January.
Hogle Zoo posted a video on Facebook of Nora playing around in ice Monday afternoon. It was reminiscent of a video of her playing in ice that went viral in 2016 while she was at the Oregon Zoo.
Zoo officials said on Monday that Nora’s surgical team was “thrilled her bone is healing nicely and the metal looks to be in great shape” after looking at X-rays.
The 3-year-old bear apparently broke a bone that runs from her shoulder to her elbow on Jan. 23. Zookeepers first noticed something was wrong by the way she was acting the following day. Lead keeper, Kaleigh Jablonski, said she believed the break came from roughhousing. X-rays taken at the time showed the extent of the injury.
A team of specialists from Utah, Texas and North Carolina performed the surgery in early February. The team thought the surgery was a success, Hogle Zoo spokeswoman Erica Hansen said in a video posted on the zoo’s Facebook page shortly after the surgery was completed.
Although Nora is healing on schedule, she still hasn’t returned to her enclosure and hasn’t been reunited with Hope, the zoo’s other polar bear. The zoo didn’t release a timetable for when visitors will be able to Nora her at the zoo.
However, zoo officials said Nora has “LOVED her added outdoor enrichment” in a small outside holding yard as a part of the rehab process.
