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Nora, one of Utah’s Hogle Zoo’s two polar bears, has a broken bone and needs a big surgery

(Jeremy Harmon | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nora the polar bear plays with a small pumpkin as animals at Salt Lake City's Hogle Zoo were fed Thanksgiving treats on Thursday, November 23, 2017.

One of Utah’s Hogle Zoo’s polar bears has a broken bone and will be healing out of sight for “the next several months.”

Nora, a 500-pound polar bear, broke the humerus bone on her front, right leg Wednesday night, the zoo says — presumably from “her signature style of roughhouse play.”

“She’s a very rambunctious bear,” said Lead Keeper Kaleigh Jablonski in a news release. “It’s not unusual to watch her head-dive into the snow without any hesitation. She just plays rough.”

Zookeepers said Nora was found “unwilling to move” on Thursday morning. After monitoring her for a few days, a full physical examination was performed Sunday, including X-rays that confirmed Nora had broken her humerus bone and was unable to walk.

According to the zoo, Nora had metabolic bone disease as a cub, but veterinarians believe she is “a good candidate for surgical repair.” The surgery will be performed on Feb. 4.

Nora came to the Hogle Zoo in 2017 with another polar bear named Hope.

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