I was doing research on something else today when I came across a Milwaukee Public Library blog post from October 2015 about a whole slew of bear deaths/killings in a mixed species/order exhibit at the old Washington Park Zoo from 1932-1935.
Here’s that MPL post if you’re interested in reading more:
http://mpl.org/blog/now/black-bear-black-bear-why-do-you-drown
The zoo director always seemed to be conveniently out of town when the horrifying attacks occurred. Hmmmm. And I have to wonder how well his “bears will be bears” nonchalance would go over with the public today.
It’s always amazing to stumble across stories like this that bring history to life in a new way.
Katherine Wikoff 
Fascinating and horrific story. I’ve heard that polar bears are the least friendly of the bear family.
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They certainly don’t seem to play nicely with black bears, at least.
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Pingback: The Milwaukee (Library) Lion | Katherine Wikoff
Very interesting…I never heard that story. Milwaukee had a different landscape back in those
days from what we know now.
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