--- description: Zookeepers found the 4-month-old baby polar bear listless on Monday morning and took him to get tested, but he died that night title: Baby Polar Bear at Berlin Zoo Dies Suddenly image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt507dd2c16767288d/6988bd82fb4eac7c1b8910a7/fritz-polar-bear.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Baby Polar Bear at Berlin Zoo Dies Suddenly  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 8, 2017 12:52 AM CUT  Polar bear Fritz in the Tierpark zoo in'Berlin on Jan. 12, 2017. Polar bear Fritz in the Tierpark zoo in'Berlin on Jan. 12, 2017.Tierpark Berlin/AP  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 8, 2017 12:52 AM CUT The first baby polar bear born at a Berlin Zoo in over two decades died suddenly earlier this week. Fritz, who was born at the Tierpark Berlin this past November, died of liver inflammation, according to an explanation on the[ zoo’s website.](http://www.tierpark-berlin.de/en/news/news/articles/fritz-ist-tot "undefined") The 4-month-old baby bear was found listless in his den on Monday morning and was immediately separated from his mother to undergo tests, which revealed his inflamed liver. By nighttime, Fritz was dead. “We can hardly believe it. We are devastated,” Dr Andreas Knieriem, said in a statement on the website. “It’s incredible how fond we had become of that little polar bear.” > [](https://twitter.com/zooberlin/status/839061465441189888) The last baby polar bear born at the Berlin zoo was 22 years ago, officials said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4694649/baby-polar-bear-at-berlin-zoo-dies-suddenly/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4694649/baby-polar-bear-at-berlin-zoo-dies-suddenly/"},"headline":"Baby Polar Bear at Berlin Zoo Dies Suddenly","datePublished":"2017-03-08T00:52:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:43:18.494Z","description":"The zoo is \"devastated\" by the loss.","url":"https://time.com/4694649/baby-polar-bear-at-berlin-zoo-dies-suddenly/","keywords":["animals","Germany","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt507dd2c16767288d/6988bd82fb4eac7c1b8910a7/fritz-polar-bear.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt507dd2c16767288d/6988bd82fb4eac7c1b8910a7/fritz-polar-bear.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Polar bear Fritz in the Tierpark zoo in'Berlin on Jan. 12, 2017.","caption":"Polar bear Fritz in the Tierpark zoo in'Berlin on Jan. 12, 2017.","creditText":"Tierpark Berlin/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4694649/baby-polar-bear-at-berlin-zoo-dies-suddenly/","name":"Baby Polar Bear at Berlin Zoo Dies Suddenly"}}]}] ```