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GENEVA — Bern’s Bear Pit, for centuries a tourist attraction and a symbol of the city, has lost its last resident to euthanasia and will be closed for good.
Pedro, a 28-year-old brown bear, was put to death Thursday, ending a tradition that had spanned nearly 500 years. The pit that housed the beasts giving the city its name will be replaced by a more bear-friendly park.
Bern’s Bear Pit dates back to at least 1513, when the chronicler Valerius Anshelm described the Bernese army’s return from a military victory with a living bear as booty.
