San Diego

An orphaned bear cub from Alaska that became one of the most photographed faces in San Diego has died. Chester, an 800-pound Alaska brown bear who had delighted visitors to the San Diego Zoo, died of a blocked intestine. Jeff Jouett, a zoo spokesman, said as many as 100 million photographs of Chester were taken over the years, usually while he was dripping wet from a dip in his pool and standing up on his hind legs, rubbing his stomach or waving to the crowd. “He was very intelligent,” said Jim Joiner, Chester’s keeper. “Chester knew his right hand from his left hand, for example. I taught him to stick out his right hand for his fish, if I asked him to, and then his left, and he would do that.” Joiner said he also taught Chester to stand erect on one foot, adding that it was not an easy stunt for a 10-foot-tall bear to master.