Who is Hoho the sun bear?
Introduction
Hoho was a Malayan sun bear who lived at the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center from 2017 until his death in 2024. At the time of his death, Hoho was the oldest known sun bear in North America, at the age of 35.
As you can probably tell, I really love Hoho, to the point that my girlfriend and I traveled from Montana to Kansas specifically to see him. Here’s a picture from our trip:
Hoho History
Hoho was born on October 19th, 1989 just a few minutes after his twin brother Barney at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. In May of 2000, Hoho was moved to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska with a mate named Cupcake, while Barney was moved to the Pueblo Zoo in Pueblo, Colorado with a mate named Honey Bear.
In Omaha, Hoho and Cupcake were fan favorites, and were known for drawing crowds when they caught apples and oranges thrown to them by zookeepers. As part of the Henry Doorly Zoo’s 2017 renovations, Hoho and Cupcake were moved to the Topeka Zoo, which specializes in caring for geratric animals.
Although Honey Bear and Cupcake passed away at the ages of 28 and 30 on June 15th, 2017, and October 28th, 2019 respectively, Hoho and Barney continued to live for several more years, despite the fact that sun bears only live to about 25 years old on average.
Hoho once again became a fan favorite in Topeka, and through the work of the zookeepers, gained an internet following, where he was known for his tongue hanging out of his mouth due to a tooth he had had removed.
Barney and Hoho each had the distinction of being the oldest known sun bears in North America at the time of their deaths, with Barney passing away on September 17th, 2023, and Hoho passing away on November 25th, 2024, just a month after his 35th birthday.