A 25-year-old polar bear named Anton has died after eating a visitor’s coat and bag.

The German polar bear died yesterday after eating the bag and jacket, which had been dropped in his enclosure, in the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart.

Anton had been sick for several days before staff saw him coughing up pieces of fabric.

They administered a drug to make him vomit, which was successful in making him produce more pieces of the coat and bag, but it was too late to save him.

The polar bear died of severe internal injuries and inflammation, and could have lived another 10 to 15 years if he had not eaten the garments.
Zoo staff say that visitors dropping objects into enclosures was a serious problem.

They estimate that in the last 20 years, 200 children’s shoes, 50 babies’ dummies, countless hats, cameras and phones, as well as several pairs of glasses have ended up in the water of the polar bear enclosure.