Polar bears cranberry and Kova have long been favorites at the Alaska Zoo. Best buddies, they share an enclosure filled with toys and treats and *** large pool where Kova in particular likes to take her morning swim, but it wasn’t so long ago this normally playful four year old was feeling under the weather. Kova is *** very interactive and busy bear, and she just seemed kind of off. She was pawing at her mouth *** little bit. Good girl. Curator Sam Lavins suspected an issue with *** tooth. Kova open, so she asked Kova to give her *** closer look. We could see that she had broken one of her canines, and there’s any number of ways she could have done that. Just to give you an idea of what we’re talking about, this is *** replica of *** polar bear skull, and the tooth in question is this one. It’s the lower left canine. This one is her broken tooth. X-ray confirmed the diagnosis and what needed to happen next. We did consult with *** uh specialist, *** veterinary specialist outside of Alaska, um, sent him the X-rays, got some good advice, and then we went with *** local doctor to do the work. And endedonist who normally operates on humans was part of the large team that performed. Root canal on the fully sedated 450 pound bear. Everybody knew ahead of time what their role was and what to do and where to be, and it was, it was so well planned out and everybody worked so well together. The procedure, she says, went as smooth as butter, and Kova, she feels so much better, is clearly back to having fun.
‘She feels so much better’: Young polar bear gets a root canal
Updated: 5:49 AM EDT Sep 20, 2025
Polar bears Cranbeary and Kova have long been favorites at the Alaska Zoo. They share an enclosure filled with toys and treats and a large pool where Kova likes to take her morning swim.But it wasn’t so long ago that this normally playful 4-year-old was feeling under the weather.”Kova is a very interactive and busy bear, and she just seemed kind of off. She was pawing at her mouth a little bit,” Alaska Zoo curator Sam Lavin said.Lavin suspected an issue with a tooth, so she asked Kova to give her a closer look.”We could see that she had broken one of her canines, and there’s any number of ways that she could have done that.” An X-ray confirmed the diagnosis and what needed to happen next.”We did consult with a veterinary specialist outside of Alaska, sent him the X-rays, got some good advice, and then we went with a local doctor to do the work,” Lavin said.An endodontist who normally operates on humans was part of the large team that performed the root canal on the fully sedated 450-pound bear.”Everybody knew ahead of time what their role was and what to do and where to be, and it was so well planned out. and everybody worked so well together,” Lavin said.The procedure, she says, went as smoothly as butter — and Kova is back to having fun.
Polar bears Cranbeary and Kova have long been favorites at the Alaska Zoo. They share an enclosure filled with toys and treats and a large pool where Kova likes to take her morning swim.
But it wasn’t so long ago that this normally playful 4-year-old was feeling under the weather.
“Kova is a very interactive and busy bear, and she just seemed kind of off. She was pawing at her mouth a little bit,” Alaska Zoo curator Sam Lavin said.
Lavin suspected an issue with a tooth, so she asked Kova to give her a closer look.
“We could see that she had broken one of her canines, and there’s any number of ways that she could have done that.”
An X-ray confirmed the diagnosis and what needed to happen next.
“We did consult with a veterinary specialist outside of Alaska, sent him the X-rays, got some good advice, and then we went with a local doctor to do the work,” Lavin said.
An endodontist who normally operates on humans was part of the large team that performed the root canal on the fully sedated 450-pound bear.
“Everybody knew ahead of time what their role was and what to do and where to be, and it was so well planned out. and everybody worked so well together,” Lavin said.
The procedure, she says, went as smoothly as butter — and Kova is back to having fun.