Wednesday, March 20, 2024

This year's polar bear cubs -

 

Mother Frimas with Nivi and Elva, from my visit in 2019.

For the 2023-24 season, we have reports of only three cubs born and surviving this year, one in the Netherlands and twins in a remote northern area of Russia. 

Frimas and Wilbär are the parents of little Otis in Dierenrijk, a zoo between Mierlo, Eindhoven and Nuenen in the Netherlands.

Otis was born November 28, and his birth was announced on November 30. He just made his public debut a week ago. Otis is very popular, and already there are many photos of him with him mom, many of the photos showing how much Otis likes to get dirty. 

Baby Otis this week. (Photo by Hans Muskens)

Frimas, was wildborn in Canada in 2002 (estimated), and has been in Nuenen since 2011. She has already raised three sets of twins:  Pixel (m) and Noordje (f) born in 2012, Nicky (f) and Simona (f) born in 2015, and Nivi (m) and Elva (f) born in 2018. Henk, one of Huggies' triplets born in 2005, is the father of all three sets of triplets born to Frimas. He lives in France now.

Mother Frimas an Baby Otis. (Photo by Hans Muskens)

Otis' father Wilbär was born to Anton and Corinna in the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart Germany in 2007, their only child. He moved to Orsa Predator Park in Sweden where he fathered daughter Miki born in 2020 with Ewa, and twin boys Noori and Nannok in 2021 with Hope. Sadly, Miki died of a heart condition at age 3 as she was being moved with her mother from Orsa to the UK. Hope, along with her twin boys, were also moved from Orsa to Peak Wildlife Park in the UK last fall, after Orsa Park closed.

Otis has some interesting great uncles and a great aunt. Antonia, the famous dwarf polar bear of Gelsenkirchen ZOOM, at age 34 is also the oldest polar bear that we know of. Antonia is the half sister of Wilbär's late father Anton. Both Anton and Antonia were born in Zoo Karlsruhe.

Wilbär's uncle Nanok II, who was half brother of Corinna, was also the father of Malik of Aalborg Zoo.

Corinna's older half brother Wilhelm, also called Willie, also born in Copenhagen, was sold to the East German Circus and ended up in a Mexican Circus, where he and five other polar bears were rescued in 2002 in Puerto Rico and taken to US zoos.  Their rescue was worldwide news. Wilhelm enjoyed a good life for ten years at the North Carolina Zoo and later the Milwaukee County Zoo. 

Father Wilbär, next door (Photo by Hans Muskens)

As the Russian twins, born in the Yakutsk Zoo (Orto-Doydu), the children of wildborn mother Kolymana, are quite remote, we haven't had much information on them. The Yakutsk zoo has announced that the twins will be allowed outside at the end of March. It is very near the Arctic Circle, so it is still quite wintry there. The gender of the cubs is not known. Father of the cubs is Lomonosov, son of Uslada. Kolymana and Lomonosov are parents of daughter Chaarchana (2016) and son Almaz (2019).

UPDATE on March 26: The cubs' birthdate has been announced as December 4. They are a boy and a girl, and there will be a naming contest.

“The cubs feel good, they run actively, tumble and play pranks, but they are always close to their mother. They have grown up and can confidently go out of the house in which they were born into the inner room. Kolymana also feels good, she has a lot of worries, every little bear needs an eye and an eye, but she’s doing great, she’s coping,” said Natalya Safonova, head of the scientific and educational department of the zoo.

The Yakutsk Zoo is about 450 miles south of the Arctic Circle, and quite remote, even from the city of Yakutsk.

In 2012, Kolymana was found as a wandering lost cub, all alone in the world, by members of the Bear Patrol in the ice of the East Siberian Sea in Nizhnekolymsky ulus. She was rescued and brought to Orto-Doydu,  the zoo which is just south of Yakutsk.  

Lomonosov, born in 2011, is the same age as Kolymana. He is the son of the late Uslada and Menshikov, who produced 16 offspring at the Moscow Zoo.

The Russian twins' birth was announced on January 29, but we don't know when they were actually born, and so far just an early den video, no photos. 

As the zoos in Russia and Europe are pretty much at capacity, there has been an intentional slowdown on breeding, and this is why there were so few cubs born last year and this year.

In the Fall of 2023, there were several births in Japan, but they did not survive. Also Friida in Tallinn Estonia had triplets, but just as in the previous two years, they did not live, and Friida is now thought to be too old and they will not try again. 

Last year

In 2022, Anouk was born in Hamburg, Germany, to Viktoria and Kap, the only cub in Europe. Twin girls Belka and Strelka were born in Novosibirsk Russia to Gerda and Kai, also in 2022. And in the USA, where there is plenty of room for more cubs, last year Crystal gave birth to twin boys Kallu and Kallik, with Nuka as the father. No cubs were born in the USA this year.

Thank you to my friend Hans Muskens for allowing me to use his photos of Otis and his parents in Dierenrijk.

Friday, February 16, 2024

A boyfriend for Qannik


                                          The lovely bachelorette Qannik


Wildborn Qannik is 13 years old now, and about to get her first boyfriend.

Bo playing with a pipe feeder in Henry Vilas
 Borealis, or Bo for short, made the trip from Henry Vilas Zoo in Wisconsin to Glacier Run in Louisville a few weeks ago, and is now out of quarantine, the zoo has announced. Bo has been exploring the outdoor habitat and maybe in a few weeks, he will spend some time with Qannik. 

Qannik of Glacier Run

Qannik has never shared space with another bear, but she is quite familiar with having male bears as close neighbors. Bo's brother Siku used to live in Glacier Run, and he would watch Qannik across the way in the other enclosure. But since Qannik is property of Fish and Wildlife, she was not allowed to be part of the breeding program until just a few months ago. Lately, she has been enjoying the companionship of a wild Night Heron, who has adopted the bear habitat as its home. It will be interesting to see how Bo reacts to the bird.

Qannik and her "pet" Night Heron.


Qannik, here with a big smile, loves the water. Bo does too.

Qannik also is familiar with Lee, who lived at Glacier Run for some time, but is now back in Columbus with Bo's much older sister Aurora. Each of the male bears in Glacier Run was close by in a downstairs bedroom area, so Qannik would see them and smell them and even growl at them. But to have no bars in between, that will be something new for our girl.

Bo was very interactive with people
 when he lived in Toledo with his mom Crystal

Qannik was raised by keepers after her rescue from the oilfields of Alaska, first in the Alaska Zoo, and then after she was flown to Louisville in late June of 2011.

Bo loves toys. Here is is in Toledo as a baby.
Bo is the five year old son of Crystal and the late Marty, so he is closely related to most of the younger bears in the USA zoos. Qannik, being rescued from the wilds of Alaska as a tiny cub, has valuable genes. 

Baby Bo

Berit, on right, showed Bo the proper way to court a lady.
Bo has been living with older lady bear Berit for three years in Henry Vilas Zoo, so she has taught him how to get along with a female roommate. Bo is young, so will probably not be dominant with Qannik, who is used to being a diva.


Qannik in her rocker toy, not long after she arrived in Louisville.


Baby Qannik with a crazy egg.



They do have some things in common. Bo always loved to swim in the pool at Henry Vilas, and Qannik is quite the water baby too. She really enjoys her underwater adventures in the deep dive pool at Glacier Run. So maybe they will have some fun together in the water. 

Qannik and one of her pickles. She has gone through quite a few.

The two potential sweethearts also like their toys. Qannik will have to learn to share her giant pickle. 

Qannik at her 13th birthday.

So now Louisville is about to get its own version of "The Bachelor." Here's hoping it is love at first sight for our two polar bear sweethearts.



Wednesday, January 24, 2024

A new "Era" for Qannik


Qannik at her birthday party in 2023

 It's time to celebrate Qannik's birthday with a party, and also to look ahead to what her future might hold. This year the party had a Taylor Swift theme with an environmental twist.

The keepers setting up the party on January 20, 2024.
Qannik was gifted a new giant pickle by a fan.

This past Saturday, Louisville Zoo celebrated Qannik's 13th birthday with a Swifty theme, on a sunny but bitterly cold day. Perfect for a polar bear.

A new ball, a t-shirt slogan, and an icy treat for Qannik.

Qannik got a new red ball and a new giant pickle, plus lots of her favorite pumpkin chunks. The specially designed posters were affixed to blocks with yummy peanut butter, and Qannik had fun ripping off the posters and licking the peanut butter.

Qannik comes down the ramp to the "stage"
 which was set with song lyrics and Swifty sayings.

Qannik performs some clever dance steps for her fans.

The zoo decided that because Qannik was entering her teen years, a Taylor Swift theme would be appropriate. The keepers had fun putting together the song lyrics and Swifty sayings that decorated the "stage."

Qannik inspects the Conservation ERA poster, featuring her photos.


Qannik in front of her ERAS poster.

Qannik's version of the ERAS poster


                                   Promoting Conservation the Qannik way. 
                                  "Cruel Summer" is a Taylor Swift song.


                               Delicious poster for Qannik's RED album.


                                       Qannik shows off how tall she is.

So many pretty bear pictures on the poster.

Qannik's special guest at her party was the Night Heron,
 a native bird to Kentucky who has made Glacier Run his home for the past year. Qannik doesn't seem to mind.


Click on this link below to see my story and photos in Knuti's Magazine featuring more pics of the Night Heron with Qannik:


Knuti's Magazine story on Qannik

The number of polar bears in US zoos has been in decline for several decades. While there were once 300 or so polar bears in US zoos, the number is now down to below 40. All the younger bears are closely related, which makes pairing them off more difficult. 

A poorly thought through federal law passed in 2008 banned the import of polar bears from other countries.  Whereas we used to trade polar bears to Europe and even Japan, and brought in bears as well, that was stopped. Crystal, our most prolific mother and grandmother, was born in Belgium, and without her, there would be no young ones here in the US. 

Crystal of the Toledo Zoo, with one of her current twins.

To complicate matters, rescued polar bear cubs from Alaska had been deemed to be the property of Fish and Wildlife and under their jurisdiction. For many years, these bears, even though they were born in the US, could not be part of the breeding program. That is changing, and thus Qannik can be matched with a male polar bear now.

It isn't just Qannik who has been affected. A young female polar bear named Zara was rescued last year and now lives at the Alaska Zoo. She is two years old.

The San Diego Zoo has three wildborn bears, but female Chinook is too old to breed, and 23 year old brother and sister twins Kalluk and Tatqiq are bonded and would not do well apart. Tatqiq has been on birth control for many years, so she cannot reproduce, but Kalluk might be considered for breeding as his wild genes are valuable. I have understood that Chinook, Kalluk and Tatqiq were grandfathered anyway, and not included in the breeding ban of wild bears.

 Kali, the male polar bear who was rescued when his mother was shot by a hunter, and who lived in the Alaska Zoo, then the Buffalo Zoo as a companion to young Luna, and now in the St. Louis Zoo, has been living alone for years, but maybe now can be matched with a suitable female from our core family from Crystal.

Of course zoos that currently have a polar bear or two are not happy to give them up, so it will probably be a struggle to find a mate for Qannik. Since she is wildborn, her genes are quite valuable, and she is not related to any of the other zoo bears.

20 year old Payton, who was born in the Brookfield Zoo and later lived in the Memphis Zoo and then the North Carolina Zoo, was chosen to move to Louisville to be a mate to Qannik, but sadly he died two hours into his journey on October 25. It was later found that he had some heart disease and a tumor, but no definitive cause of death has been announced. 

So now we wait to see if our bachelorette bear will find a suitable companion. She has never lived with another polar bear, but she is quite familiar with both Siku of Lincoln Park and Lee of Columbus, for these males have also spent time in Louisville, living next door to Qannik, so she knows them in that way, accustomed to their scent and seeing them often, but not sharing a space exactly.

Siku during his years in the Louisville Zoo.

I am sure that both Nuka and Lee, as proven breeders, were on the list as possible suitors as Suka and Aurora waited through the denning up season, but as no cubs were born, these guys will not be moving, most likely.

Five year old Bo, who was born in Toledo and is now living with older lady bear Berit in Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison Wisconsin, might be a good choice, as he is young and just beginning his breeding years. Berit has given him the social skills to interact with a lady bear. Crystal's year old twin boys, Kalluk and Kallu, will be needing a place to which to move in about a year, and they could move in with Berit at Henry Vilas. 

Bo at Henry Vilas.

Qannik is quite people oriented, and something of a diva, so I suspect it will take some time for her to accept a boyfriend. She might do best with Bo, since he is young and probably willing to follow her lead. Breeding season is almost underway, so there will probably be no action this coming season.

So now Qannik waits to see who is coming to keep her company.

Qannik, our latest Bachelorette. 

Here's Qannik in 2020, showing that she can "Shake It Off."


Wednesday, December 27, 2023

A snack for the Aalborg bears

Malik sits at the restaurant table, waiting for someone
 to take her order and serve her a fine gourmet dinner.

As 2023 comes to an end, one more look back at my visit to Aalborg Denmark in September.  In the wild, polar bears mostly prey on seals, and occasionally on a beached whale.

But in zoos, what do they have for dinner? They have some interesting favorites in Aalborg Zoo in Denmark, things that they would never dream of in the wild.


Fish is regularly served up to the polar bears, sometimes Salmon, sometimes mackerel,
 sometimes even trout.




Polar bears need lots of fat. Sometimes they are given lard, which the bears find yummy. Sometimes they get skin with layers of fat, and they have to work hard to get the fat off.


Malik enjoying some fatty skin the cubs just dug up out of the gravel.

Sisters Imaq and Inuk wonder how to share this fatty skin.


Children may pester their mother,
 but still are welcome in this restaurant.

Malik is still waiting to be served.



In September, our group of polar bear fans got a special treat ourselves when we we allowed to go behind the scenes and bring fruit and vegetables from a list approved by the zookeepers. Some of the vegetables came from our gardens. The bears got cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, pears, celery, carrots and more.

A special treat, corn on the cob, already shucked,
 and brought by visitors.

Three watermelons, one for each. They really like the melon.
This was the first time they had it.

Here the bears get some pears from a visitor in the polar bear group.

Grapes are good too. Like a Roman orgy.

Malik's favorite is celery.

The cubs like celery too.

Yummy carrots

Celeriac is very funny looking, but Malik loves it.
The kids are liking their carrots. Synchronized eating.



Dinner is served. It looks like Fennel and Fish are on the menu.


The favorite meal for the cubs comes from Mom.
Even though they are four years old.