Moving season for the bears

 Now that the summer is over, and weather is cooler, some of the planned moves for polar bears have taken place, or are coming right up.

Earlier this year, Haley moved from Memphis to the Detroit Zoo, where both she and Suka are currently denning up. Also in Detroit is Nuka, twin brother of Koda, whom Haley left behind in Memphis.

Haley

In August, almost 9 year old Amelia Gray, daughter of the late Anana and Nanuq in the Columbus Zoo, moved from the Oregon Zoo in Portland, where she lived with her sister/cousin Nora, to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, where she joined Hudson and her Aunt Hope. Hudson is brother of Amelia Gray's late grandfather Marty of Toledo. With almost all the younger bears related to the Crystal-Marty family, the officials are trying their best to match up possible polar bear breeding couples.

Amelia Gray

An upcoming move will split up Crystal's twins Kallik and Kallu, born in Toledo almost three years ago and currently in St. Louis. Their father is Nuka of the Detroit Zoo. Kallik will moved to the Oregon Zoo, and current resident Nora will move to the Henry Villas Zoo to be with older lady Berit.  So Kallik will be alone at the Oregon Zoo and Kallu will also be alone at the St. Louis Zoo for the time being. 

Kallik and Kallu

Nora, who was born with a bone condition and was raised by her keepers, is the daughter of Aurora and the late Nunuq, born in Columbus almost 10 years ago. While living in Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, she suffered a severe bone break, and had to have extensive surgery involving screws and other metal parts to stabilize her paw. She is totally recovered now, but may not be good breeding material due to her bone problem. Even so, She is moving to the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison Wisconsin where they plan to bring in a male for her at some time in future, in addition to Berit currently living there. The Henry Vilas Zoo plans to move the two grizzly bear sisters to another zoo so the polar bears will have two enclosures.

Nora in Salt Lake City

Twins Astra and Laerke, almost four years old and living at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma Washington, have been split up, with Astra going to Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota, where there are currently three bears. Young Kulu, almost six years old, is to be Astra's mate. Since Astra's mother Suka and Kulu's mother Aurora are sisters, Astra and Kulu are first cousins.

 The other two Como bears, Nan and Neil, are elderly and quite beloved there, but will not always be around so Como Zoo is looking to the future with a new breeding pair. Laerke  and Astra were born at the Detroit Zoo, daughters of Suka and Nuka. Laerke was failing within a few days after birth, so was taken into the care of zookeepers, where she faced challenges. To give Laerke company, a grizzly bear cub named Jebbie was brought in to be her companion. Astra and Laerke were finally allowed to play together when they were about two years old, and were moved to the Point Defiance Zoo together. Soon Laerke will be alone again, but she did grow up for many months with just human company, so she should be comfortable with that.

Astra in Detroit

Cubs this year?

To speculate on who might be giving birth in the coming few months, I am hopeful about Aurora and Lee in Columbus, and Suka and Nuka in Detroit. Wildborn Qannik in Louisville is a long shot this year since she injured her paw just as her first breeding season started with her new companion Bo, but she is denned up anyway. Haley in Detroit may have been bred by Nuka's brother Koda in Memphis last spring before she moved, and she is denned up as well.

Luna and Sakari in Buffalo have had many years of trying, but this year may be different, for I hear they are doing something different in Buffalo.

Nikita and Neva in Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City are also a possibility.

Although the powers that be brought wildborn orphan Kali from St. Louis to Toledo to be mate to Crystal in hopes for more cubs from this champion mother, I doubt that will happen. Crystal will be 27 years old this fall, and as far as I know, the oldest mother to give birth was Uslada in St. Petersburg at age 26. I have not heard much news about Crystal and Kali being together during breeding season.

In Europe, so many of the bears have been split into boy groups and girl groups, to prevent overpopulation, just the opposite problem the US zoo are facing.

Malik nursing cubs Imaq and Inuk in Aalborg.

I am hopeful that my Rasputin and Malik in Aalborg  Denmark, will produce cubs this year. I am pinning my main hopes on this pair. Both have proven fertile.

In Hanover, we  have Sprinter and Milana (also Vera is there), so that might work. We also have Nuka's twin sister Qilak in Pairi Daiza, where there are twin brother Bely and Cery, although I don't know if they have been together. 

15 year old Qannik, daughter of Toledo Crystal's sister Blanche, is with Cora's son Nanuk in Zoo Sauvage in Belgium. 

European moves

In Europe, Anna and Elsa have left their mother Valeska in Bremerhaven's Zoo Am Meer, and have moved to Zoo Brno in the Czech Republic, where longtime resident Cora was already enjoying the new enclosure. Anna and Elsa are soon to be six years old. There is a trend in European zoos to form all girl groups, or all boy groups, since their breeding program has been so successful, and they do not want a surplus of cubs with no home to go to.

Last May, Anouk left her mother Victoria in Hamburg and moved to to a brand new polar bear home in  Lumigny Safari Resort just outside of Paris. Anouk will be three years old in December. Her father is the late Kap. In June 10 year old Nicky arrived from Zoo de Cerza, also in France, where she had been living with her twin sister Simone. Those twins are offspring of Frimas and Henk in Eindhoven Zoo in the Netherlands.