‘He’s like a son to me’: Inuka’s last days, among those who loved him most
One zookeeper called the beloved polar bear fussy and smart. Another saw Inuka grow up from day one. Talking Point got exclusive access as the zookeepers came to terms with a wrenching decision.
“If your child is still suffering, do you want to see that?” said one of Inuka’s early keepers. The 27-year-old polar bear was being fed a high dosage of painkillers every day to help it cope with arthritis and ulcers.
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SINGAPORE: He was the first person to discover Inuka when the bear was born. He was there when Inuka’s mother Sheba died. And he was there when the end came for Singapore’s last polar bear.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) deputy head keeper Mathivanan Samy (Tony) was the closest thing to Inuka’s dad since the bear’s father Nanook died in 1995, when Inuka was five years old.
And just before the day arrived, the 60-year-old finally made peace with the inevitable parting.
“I think, yes, I’ve accepted it. At the beginning, it was too much for me,” said an emotional Mr Mathivanan. “He’s like a son to me.
“Like any other parent, … you’d want to do the right thing for your child. If the child is still suffering, do you want to see that?”
With a sniffle, he added: “Of course, it saddens me. But there’s a time for everything.”
That time came on Wednesday, the morning of April 25, with Inuka’s entire family of zookeepers by its side — moments the public only had a glimpse of through three photos released by the WRS.
In the 27-year-old’s final days, however, Talking Point was given exclusive access to Inuka and its Frozen Tundra home at the Singapore Zoo — and came away with a little more insight into why those who knew the bear loved it so.
WATCH: The emotional moments (5:27)
ENTER ‘OUR LITTLE FRIEND’
The only polar bear born in the tropics first graced the Singapore Zoo on Dec 26, 1990. The zookeepers knew Sheba was pregnant but could not tell when the exact delivery date would be.
Mr Mathivanan, who has been with the zoo since 1982, was looking after Sheba then and had just released the expectant mother into the outdoor enclosure.
“She was walking out, and I went, ‘What’s that blood stain on her back?’” he recalled. “I said to myself, ‘She gave birth?’ So I closed the doors, went to the cubbing den and saw our little friend wriggling around.”
The newborn cub could be carried in the palm of one hand. Full-grown Inuka weighed more than half a tonne.
The bear was cared for by different keepers over the years, but Mr Mathivanan was especially attached to it, just as he was to its mother. And he remembers how Inuka was when Sheba died in 2012.
“He’d come around and look at mummy’s den,” he said.
He knew there was something wrong when she wasn’t there. And I’d say, for about one and a half or two months, you could see it in his eyes.”
‘FUSSY, SMART BEAR’
In 2016, WRS deputy head keeper Mohan Ponichamy became one of Inuka’s primary keepers. Having tended to many elderly animals in the zoo, he was familiar with the care required for the bear, which was 70-plus in human years.
He found Inuka to be “very inquisitive”, and it was curious even in its last days, when the Talking Point team visited and brought “new scents” to its home.
It was also known to love the limelight. As the crowds gathered this month, however, the bear did not always feel up to leaving its air-conditioned ice cave.
“We explained to them that, if he didn’t feel like coming out, if he felt like sleeping, we’d leave him alone,” said Mr Ponichamy, gesturing as he would to Inuka. “It’s okay, buddy. You just rest.”
To help the bear cope with its arthritis and ulcers in the final three weeks, a higher dosage of medication and supplements were administered. These were mixed in its food three to four times a day.
But the keepers had to hide the pills and even disguise the smell and taste by, for example, soaking them in honey.
“Sometimes he’d spit out the whole meat, and then he’d open it up to check if there was a pill,” said Mr Ponichamy, 41. “He’s a fussy, smart bear.”
The way the pills were given had to be changed “all the time” because Inuka caught on “very fast”. And the keepers had to be patient during feeding time, as they could not let the bear skip its medication.
At one point during the weekend before Inuka’s crucial check-up, as Mr Ponichamy watched footage of the waiting crowd, his thoughts just got to him.
“Everybody loves him. Everybody knows him. And he was … when he … Sorry, when I think of all this, it’s very …” his voice trailed off.
NO MORE SUFFERING
Some have questioned the decision to put down the ageing polar bear. But WRS assistant director of veterinary services Abraham Mathew said his team realised that they could not help Inuka any more.
“We’d been monitoring him for a couple of years. Every now and then, he was a bit more lethargic," he said.
“But over the last couple of months, we noticed that rest period — of not wanting to be so active — had increased.”
Its teeth were wearing down. Its hearing was not as good as before. And probably because of age-related changes to its bone structure, Inuka’s gait had stiffened into a shuffle, causing abrasions on its paw pads.
Carrying its heavy weight around was “really a painful process” and meant that the bear needed a “fairly high” dosage of painkillers every day. But the medication would eventually have taken a toll on Inuka’s other organs.
Dr Mathew said: “We wouldn’t allow him to go through that process of pain and suffering. That’s our stand on this.”
Having had the chance to speak with those who cared for Inuka over the years, Talking Point host Steven Chia summed it up by saying: “You can see there’s clearly a connection between them.”
Since birth, Inuka has captured the hearts and imagination of locals and visitors alike, becoming one of the Singapore Zoo’s icons. And to the ones who loved the bear the most, like Mr Mathivanan, it has given “a lot of fond memories”.
New episodes of Talking Point every Thursday at 9.30pm on Mediacorp Channel 5.
