Singapore's first ever 'tropical' polar bear dies leaving fans to mourn 'one-of-a-kind icon' who turned green from algae

Singapore is mourning the death of the first polar bear born and bred there.

The world's first tropical polar bear was put down by wildlife authorities after suffering health problems from old age.

Inuka, a 27-year-old animal suffered arthritis, dental problems and ear infections, and carried until his final days a green tinge in his fur blamed on algae growth.

"As much as we would like to keep Inuka with us for as long as possible, our ultimate responsibility is his welfare," said Cheng Wen-Haur, an official of zoo operator Singapore Wildlife Reserves told Reuters.

"The greater kindness would be to relieve him from prolonged suffering," he said in a statement.

Calls for Inuka to be allowed to live out his natural life grew after the zoo operator revealed earlier this month that the bear, whose age was the equivalent of 70 in human years, was sick.

"Please do let him pass on naturally," said Vanessa Wee, one of more than 100 people who commented on the zoo operator's Facebook page.

"He is the only tropical polar bear, a true-blue Singaporean, a one-of-a-kind icon," added another, Anita Ryanto.

Inuka, or "foreboding strength" in Inuit, was born on Boxing Day in 1990 to parents Nanook and Sheba, who had arrived from Canada and Germany, respectively, in 1978.

His father, Nanook, died in 1995 at 18 while Sheba died at the ripe old age of 35 in 2012. In the wild, the bears have an average life expectancy of 15 to 18 years.

In 2004, when the fur on Inuka and his mother started turning green, people started questioning the ethics of keeping polar bears in the tropics.

The Singapore Zoo said the green tinge was algae growth. In 2004, the BBC said the bears were bleached with hydrogen peroxide.

Inuka will be the last polar bear in Singapore, the zoo operator has said.