The Central Park Zoo's beloved polar bear was euthanized Wednesday after a tumor was judged inoperable. Gus was 27 years old and weighed 700 pounds; he came to New York in 1988 after being born in Toledo, Ohio. He was an icon to a generation of New Yorkers and was visited by 20 million tourists in his 23 years at the zoo. He had battled health problems, and surgeons found a tumor near his thyroid during an operation that had caused him to suffer from loss of appetite and difficulty swallowing food.
