Gus the Polar Bear is one of those New York City secrets that only the locals know about.  Gus has been at the Central Park Zoo since it re-opened in 1988.

Other than the fact that he is covered in white fur and would probably be too warm in your average refrigerator, Gus is your typical New Yorker.  He has large clawed hands and feet, like all New Yorkers and he is cranky, most if not all of the time.

One other thing unites Gus with the denizens of the bedrock on the Hudson.  He takes or used to take Prozac.  Like all New Yorkers, Gus was depressed for a time, but instead of letting it out on their unsuspecting co-workers, Gus started to swim back and forth in his enclosure.  All the little children were delighted, but the zoo keepers started to get slightly worried, so they brought in an animal psychologist to treat Gussy.

But the troubles didn’t end there for Gus.  His enclosure mate, Ida, passed away earlier this year and obviously, this made Gus sad. Really, really, really sad: