Ehime: Elderly Polar Bear Peace Makes Speedy Health Recovery, Back in Front of Fans

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:13 JST, April 25, 2026

TOBE, Ehime — A polar bear that disappeared from public view due to illness is back on display and showing off her healthy condition to fans at Tobe Zoological Park in Ehime Prefecture.

Peace, a 26-year-old female polar bear, is Japan’s oldest polar bear raised in captivity.

On March 26, she started to show signs of a downturn in her health and loss of appetite, with an inflammation later found on her front-right paw. The next day, her public viewings were suspended.

The inflamed area on her paw was swollen with a buildup of pus. The wound was washed and sewn up and other treatment was administered.

By April, Peace’s appetite had returned, and she had recovered to the point of walking around her enclosure.

On April 7, 12 days since the public had last seen her, Peace carried a yellow cone in her mouth and moved around the area.

“Her speedy recovery was possible thanks to the vet’s dedicated treatment,” said Atsuhiro Takaichi, 56, who looks after Peace.

Peace was abandoned by her mother when she was a cub, so Takaichi would take the young cub home with him at night and care for her in place of her mother.

As polar bears have an average lifespan of 25-30 years, that little cub has now become an elderly bear.

“Unforeseen things are bound to happen going forward,” Takaichi said, “but I’m going to keep my eye out so that I don’t miss even the slightest change in her condition.”