Suka and Haley, the Ladies of Detroit

 

                    Suka and Haley looking for snacks in the Tundra area.

                      Hey Suka, there's an apple in the crack in the wall. 

We have three polar bears at the Detroit Zoo these days: the male Kali, and the girls, Suka and Haley. 

Haley and Suka on the Pack Ice side of the Arctic Ring of Life.

Haley with a carrot, in the underwater tunnel viewing area.

Haley and Suka are about the same size, and similar fur.

Haley's paws are spotty and mostly pink. 

 You can tell them apart when they are in the viewing tunnel, for Haley has lack of pigment in her paw pads. 

Haley swims laps in the left hand corner
of the underwater viewing area.

 Haley also swims a particular recognizable lap, that Suka 

does not. Plus, if you see one of the girls approaching Kali, it is probably Haley. 

Suka in the right hand corner of the underwater viewing area.

Suka has been there the longest, since. 2018. She was born on November 21, 2012, in the Toledo Zoo, along with her twin brother Sakari, who is now in Buffalo. Their parents are Crystal and the late Marty. 

Suka and Sakari as cubs in Toledo.

The twins moved to Como Zoo in St. Paul in 2014 for about six months, while the new polar bear enclosure in Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison Wisconsin was being finished.

Suka (front) and Sakari in 2015 in Henry Vilas. 

Sakari moved out first, going to Buffalo as a mate for Luna (same Luna Kali lived with as a cub), but Suka stayed at Henry Vilas for three years, sharing space with older lady Berit for a time. In 2018 Suka moved to Detroit, and in 2020 she gave birth to twin girls, Astra and Laerke. 

Astra and Suka in 2021

Nuka across the way, with Suka and Astra in 2021 in Detroit.

Grizzly cub Jebbie came to Detroit as companion for Laerke,
who was being raised by keepers.

Nuka, now in Toledo, is father of the twin girls born in Detroit. Their mother Suka will be 14 years old this fall.

Haley in 2012 in Memphis.

Haley was born in Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester NY to Aurora and Yukon, on November 15, 2002, the last of their four cubs.  In 2005 she moved to Brookfield Zoo to become acquainted with Peyton, a young male there, and together they moved to Memphis in 2006, but never did produce cubs. She moved to Detroit in March of 2025. She will be 24 years old this fall, a little old to be having her first cubs, but we remain hopeful.

Kali, the current male at the Detroit Zoo, was rescued as an orphan in Alaska, and spent his first two years at the Buffalo Zoo being companion to Luna of the same age.

Kali as a just rescued Alaskan cub in the Buffalo Zoo in 2015.

Kali lived alone in St. Louis for a decade before coming to the Toledo Zoo for a short stay and very little romance, and then to the Detroit Zoo where it is hoped he will be more successful with these two lady bears.

Kali in 2016 in the St. Louis Zoo. 

Kali in Detroit

Suka's mother Crystal, the older lady bear in Toledo, did not like 12 year old unsocialized Kali. Everyone knew she liked Nuka very well, as they had lived happily together and produced twin cubs, so the two male bears, Nuka and Kali,  traded places at the beginning of 2026.

Haley in her corner, Kali watches her from atop the tube in the underwater viewing area. 

At first it was a rocky relationship between the two Detroit girls and the new guy, as Kali had not spent a great deal of time with other bears. He had grown up with Luna in the Buffalo Zoo at the beginning, that was a long time ago, and after he moved to the St. Louis Zoo,  he was all alone for over a decade so as an adult, he had not known another bear. Kali didn't know how to live together with the girls. 

There was some breeding going on early in the year with both lady bears during breeding season, but Kali was definitely an amateur, and needed more practice. It is doubtful that either Suka or Haley is pregnant, but we can hope. Next year, he will know better what he is doing. In any case, the Detroit Zoo is currently building a second den for Haley. Both girls will be denned up this fall, just in case.

In July, Haley in front, Kali at a distance.
She tries to make friends with him. 

After breeding season, Suka has been doing her best to avoid Kali. Haley has made him her project, however, trying to socialize him. 

Suka and Haley in the Tundra area of the Arctic Ring of Life in Detroit.

Haley and Suka in the Pack Ice part of the 4 acre polar bear habitat.

Haley wearing the tube. Note her paw coloration. 

The girls swim their underwater ballet together,
using a tube for even more fun.

Haley loves to swim in the Detroit pool.
 In Memphis, she did not have a deep pool with all the
 caves and pillars for hiding. This is great fun for her. 

Suka went diving and found a piece of melon.

We will be watching to see how Kali's social skills improve as Haley teaches him how to be a successful male bear in a relationship with two lady bears.

We will also be watching to see if the outside chance for a cub in Detroit comes true this spring.