Chief
a true storyChief was a big white polar bear, and he was different from most bears.
This bear was different from others because he didn't live in the wilderness.
Most wild creatures live in the wilderness, but this bear lived among people.
Chief lived among humans in a human world.
He was a wild animal that had never lived in his natural home.
Chief the polar bear lived his whole life in a zoo.
He lived in a zoo just like any other zoo, in a town just like any other town.
The big white bear was the king of the zoo.
He was the most magnificent animal there.
The lions knew he was the king.
He was bigger than all the lions.
Chief was a giant of a bear.
He had huge bear paws and sharp bear teeth.
The elephants knew he was the king of the zoo.
He was more beautiful than the elephants.
Chief's fur was pure white.
He had glistening black eyes and a jet black nose.
All the animals knew Chief was the most magnificent animal in the zoo.
And all the people who came to the zoo knew it too. They would come on sunny summer days to see the great bear. They would watch him jump into his clear blue pool and take long luxurious swims to keep cool on warm days.
And they would watch him strut across his home with his head held high-- just like a great bear should.
One spring day a man came to the zoo.
He saw Chief and could not believe what he saw.
The man thought the bear was magnificent.
He marveled at Chief's power and beauty.
"I must have that bear's strength," he thought.
"I will capture his strength and give it to my brother as a gift."
The only way the man could think of to capture the bear's marvelous power was to get in the pen with Chief.
"It will be a show of courage," he thought.
"I will face the bear and his strength will be mine."
And the man did just that.
He climbed down into Chief's life-long home.
But the man didn't understand what a wild animal is.
Even though Chief had lived his whole life in a zoo, he was still a wild animal.
The man didn't know that a wild animal can only behave like a wild animal.
Chief went after him as soon as the man entered the bear's pen.
He attacked the man.
Chief was protecting his home just like a wild animal would be expected to do.
The huge bear grabbed the man, throwing him down on the rocky ground.
Chief was killing the man with his huge bear paws and sharp bear teeth.
The people that saw the terrible scene yelled for help.
They yelled for help and a policeman came.
When the policeman came and saw the giant bear killing the man he had to make a choice.
There were two things he could do. He could let the bear kill the man, or he could shoot and kill the great white bear.
But the policeman had to act quickly.
Time was running out.
He made his decision and acted. The policeman only had to shoot his gun once.
When the bullet hit Chief, the great white bear straightened up and let the man go.
The bear had felt the stinging bullet go deep into his body.
Chief knew he was hurt badly.
He knew he would die soon.
The bear moved to a remote corner of his life-long home, lay down, and that's where Chief died.
It didn't take long for the news of what had happened to spread through the town.
And when the people heard about what had happened, they were shocked and saddened.
The man who intruded into the bear's home lived, but the king of the zoo was gone.
"We were responsible for taking care of this bear," they cried.
"How could we have let this happen?"
When the people went to the zoo and saw Chief's empty pen, their sadness seemed even greater.
They wondered what they could have done to prevent this tragedy.
They wondered what they could do to relieve their pain.
From the far North the people's answer came.
Their answer came in the form of two white balls of fur.
Nanuq and Norton were their names.
They were two orphaned polar bear cubs.
They were babies without a mother, and they needed somebody to take care of them.
The people agreed.
"We want to take care of these baby bears," they said.
"We want them to live in Chief's old home."
So the two little bears were sent for, and they came all the way from the far North.
Now two white cubs named Nanuq and Norton lived in Chief's old home.
And the people came on sunny summer days to watch the two bears.
The people watched them lounge and play in their rocky home.
They watched the bears dive into their clear blue pool to keep cool on warm days.
And they watched the two bears strut proudly across their home with their heads held high-- just like great bears should.
Chief came to the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison Wisconsin on January 28, 1974 from the Jardin De Quebec, Canada. He was one year old. He died on March 13, 1988. Nanuq and Norton came to the zoo on May 12, 1988 from the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska. Norton was later moved to the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island where he now lives.
Artwork by Molly Delaney and the kids of Treehouse Daycare.