The cubs of 2019

Malik takes care of her new cubs in Aalborg, Denmark, December 2019

It is almost the end of the 2019 polar bear birthing season. While there may be a secret cub or two out there, and births could still take place, I have put together a list of this year's new cubs, subject to update! Currently there are 10 cubs, and some potential mothers, such as Anana in Cincinnati, are still denned up. (See update below).

Most polar bear births take place during the last two weeks of November, and the first two week of December. There is the rare October birth, and it does happen, rarely in early January.

Aurora with her last cubs, Nuniq and Neva, 

Lee is a new father

(1) The USA has one birth to report, the offspring of Aurora and Lee in the Columbus Zoo on November 28. Aurora is the mother of Nora, Nuniq and Neva. Lee is a first time father.

(1) In Europe, twins were born in Vienna, Austria to Nora and Ranzo on November 20. One died right away, but the other is doing well. This is the first offspring for both Nora and Ranzo.

Milana

Sprinter looks down upon young Charlotte in Hannover

(1) Also on November 20, Milana gave birth to her first cub in Hannover, Germany. The father is Sprinter, also his first cub.

Freedom, with little Akiak and Sura in 2015

Wolodja

(2) Twins were born to Freedom on November 27 in Ouwehands, Rhenen in the Netherlands. Father is Wolodja, who is father of one year old Hertha in Tierpark Berlin. Freedom is mother to Sprinter (who just became a father in Hannover), to Sesi and Taiko in France, to Akiak in Rostock, and to Sura still in Ouwehands. Grandmother of the twins is Huggies, mother of Freedom! Father Wolodja did his job, and has already moved on to Rotterdam.

Malik with Augo in 2012

Malik and Nord in June 2019

(2) Triplets were born in Aalborg Denmark to Malik and Nord on December 4. One died the day after birth, but the other two are strong and noisy. You can watch them on the zoo's dencam. Malik is mother to the late Augo, and three year old twin sisters Nuka and Qilak, still in Aalborg. Nord is father to one year old Imaq with mother Lynn in Copenhagen, and another just born to Noel in Copenhagen. Nord has already moved to Skandanavisk Dyrepark. 

Click on this link to check in on the little family.

Aalborg Zoo polar bear dencam

Noel in June 2019

(1) Yes, another cub in Copenhagen, born on December 6. Noel finally had her first cub, with Nord as the father.

Valeska with Lili

Lloyd at Zoo Am Meer, the zoo by the sea

(2) The most recent birth was in Bremerhaven Germany, in Zoo Am Meer. Valeska and Lloyd became parents of twins. They are already parents of Lale and Lili, now in Emmen.

Newborn polar bear cubs face daunting odds. They are born so unfinished, and even in the safety and shelter of zoos, there is a 50 percent mortality rate.

In Skandanavisk Dyrepark in Denmark, young Nuno gave birth to twins, and they died soon after birth. The father was Ivan/Boris.

I have heard that Suka in Detroit gave birth to twins, but they did not survive. Father was Nuka.

Some potential moms are still denned up, and we could have further births, so I will update this story if it happens.  

UPDATE:

Another cub  has been born in Russia, sometime in December. The mother is Kolymana, who was found as a wild cub in 2012. The father is Lomonssow, one of Uslada's many cubs born in St. Peterburg. The parents already had one cub, a girl named Chaartschaanna, born in 2016, now living in St. Petersburg. The zoo is in Yakursk in the Republic of Sacha in Russia.

FURTHER UPDATE:

(3) - Between Christmas and New Year's Day, Flocke of Marineland on the French Riviera gave birth to triplets. As of a month later, all three cubs are doing well. Father Rasputin moved to Yorkshire Wildlife Park on January 29, so Flocke can have peace and quiet to raise the cubs, and Raspi will have friends to play with, not the frustration of being near Flocke. This brings the number of European cubs born in 2019 to 12.

Anana of the Cincinnati Zoo did not have cubs, and is moving to Detroit, where she may have better luck in becoming pregnant.

Little Hertha trains to be a Fußball star

 

Hertha BSC, a longtime Berlin sports institution,
 has made this little polar bear cub part of its family

All of Berlin celebrated the news of the polar bear birth at Tierpark Berlin. She was born December 1, 2018 to parents Tonja and Wolodja, although papa Wolodja had moved to Berlin Zoo, and then to the Netherlands to give peace and quiet to Tonja and her baby. 

Little Hertha and Mom Tonja

As Hertha plays,
 tasting and smelling is part of the experience

Hertha posing for her fans

A hug for her ball

 Many fingers were crossed for the cub's survival, for Tonja had lost three cubs in the past two years.  Fritz lived to be three months old, long enough to get a name, and a little girl last year who died after surviving almost a month. The mortality rate for young cubs is about 50 percent in zoos, maybe worse in the wild.

Hertha waiting for the ball to swing just right

Acting nonchalant

Does the ball suspect?

Just ignoring the ball, but getting ready to pounce.

 But this little girl was strong, and made it through the first three months just fine. In early April, Berlin's Fußball team Hertha BSC announced that they had adopted the cub, and her name would be Hertha (pronounced Herta).

Spotted on one of Hertha's visitors. She has a lot of new fans.

 Berlin's soccer team had been founded in 1892, and named after the steamship Hertha where its founders had met and made plans to form the team well over a century ago. Hertha BSC has made financial contributions in support of the cub, and thus gained naming rights.

At the gate of the Tierpark, announcing Hertha's new sponsor and name

Hertha is thinking with her tongue out.

 It was fitting that the team gave the cub a blue and white soccer ball with the team's name on it, her name, on the day  her name was announced. 

Here Hertha tries to charm the ball with her smile

Hertha plays with her foot, while the ball waits

 When I visited Hertha at the end of May, the six month old cub was a bundle of energy, teasing and wrestling with her mother Tonja over a new strap toy. 

Time for a milk break

 She needed only brief periods of rest, and a few minutes at her mother's milk bar, and then back to playing and swimming. 

Feet ready

Hugging the ball

Giving it a push

"Tor!" She scores

 

 At the end of the day, she decided she needed a little soccer practice, so she happily played with a suspended ball. Sometimes she would run away, then return and pounce. She liked to swing the ball, and wait for its return, then bat it again. 

Hertha loves the ball.
On some days there is a tube hung from the cord.
She gets different toys every day, to make life interesting.

Today she is lucky. She has her beloved swinging ball

 Playing with a suspended ball gives a polar bear cub some good hunting and pouncing practice.

Hold the ball still

Now stay there...

Doing my stretches

Still there?

Hertha ready for the attack

Got the ball

Swing the ball

What makes it go? Hertha is always trying to figure things out.

The ball keeps swinging

Now what?

Got it!

Both front paws

Go for it, Hertha!

Little Hertha is a natural soccer player, it seems.  She does love to play with balls. 

Little soccer star

Aika, a grand lady makes her exit

Aika, die große alte Dame hat Ausgang 

The great lady Aika

Aika, grandmother and great grandmother to many cubs and the oldest polar bear in the world, has come to the end of her journey. For the past few weeks, she has not wanted to go outside, but just to sleep in her bedchamber, not far from Tonja and her new cub at Tierpark Berlin.

Aika, Großmutter und Ur-Großmutter von vielen Jungtieren und die älteste Eisbärin der Welt ist am Ende ihrer Reise angelangt. Seit einigen Wochen wollte sie kaum noch auf die Anlage kommen, verbrachte lieber schlafend in ihrer Höhle, unweit von Tonja und ihrem neugeboren Jungtier im Tierpark Berlin.

Aika on her throne

Today, Aika did not wake up. She had died in her sleep. Tomorrow would have been her 36th birthday, a very old age for a polar bear.

Heute wachte Aika nicht wieder auf. Sie war im Schlaf gestorben. Morgen wäre ihr 36. Geburtstag gewesen, ein sehr hohes Alter für eine Eisbärin.

Aika in the mulch pit, a favorite soft place to rrest

I last saw her six weeks ago, as she napped in the mulch pit. She woke up, and rolled around in the mulch, played with a bucket. She really enjoyed her day, in spite of the rain and the chill in the air. 

Ich sah sie noch vor nur sechs Wochen, als sie im Mulchbett ruhte. Sie erwachte und rollte sich im Mulchbett, spielte mit einem Eimer. Sie schien ihren Tag zu genießen,unabhängig vom Regen und der kalten Luft.

Aika waits at the door

That morning, Aika wandered over to the doors, but they were closed. She spent some time on her favorite perch, a rock high enough so she could see everything. It was a throne for Queen Aika. Visitors could often see her there, watching the world go by.

An dem Morgen wanderte Aika zu den Türen, die aber geschlossen waren. Sie verbrachte einige Zeit auf ihrem beliebten Ausguck, einem Felsen,der hoch genug war und sie alles überschauen konnte. Es war wie ein Thron für Queen Aika. Besucher konnten sie häufig dort finden, die Welt betrachtend. 

Sitting on her Rock Perch, Aika was content

 Then she retreated to the mulch pit for another nap.

Dann bewegte sie sich wieder auf das Mulchbett für eine weitere Ruhepause.

Ready for another nap in the soft mulch

She was alone that morning. Wolodja took her place in the afternoon when she went inside for more sleeping. 

An diesem Morgen war sie dort allein. Wolodja nahm dann am Nachmittag ihren Platz ein, während sie in der Höhle dann weiter ruhte.

Aika

Aika was born in Katowice on November 24, 1980, and came to Berlin when she was two years old. There she gave birth to three cubs, one in 1986, one in 1990, and Eric was born in 1993. It is through Eric than Aika's bloodline lives on in many cubs. Eric, who died in 2015, was father to 10 cubs, including Lloyd who has fathered Lale and Lili, and Felix who has fathered Milak (now in Canada), Flocke (now in France), Gregor and Aleut (now in Poland) and Charlotte, still in Nuremburg, as well as the late Augo (Denmark).  So Aika's legacy lives on.

Aika war in Katowice geboren, am 24. November 1980 und kam nach Berlin als sie zwei Jahre alt war. Sie brachte drei Jungtiere zur Welt- in 1986,in 1990 und Eric wurde 1993 geboren. Durch Eric, anstammend von Aikas Genen wurden diese an viele Jungtiere weiter gegeben. Eric, der in 2015 verstarb war der Vater von 10 Jungtieren, so auch Llyod, der Lale und Lili zeugte, und Felix, der Milak zeugte (Sie lebt mittlerweile in Kanada), Flocke (jetzt in Frankreich), Gregor und Aleut (nun in Polen), und auch Charlotte, die noch in Nürnberg lebt; sowie die verstorbene Augo in Dänemark. Aikas Vermächnis lebt weiter.

Tonja, Aika (center) and Wolodja were a happy family

Aika was also like a mother to Tonja, who arrived at Tierpark at the age of 2 from Moscow. Having a young bear to play with gave Aika a new energy, and she played again, to keep Tonja entertained. Later, when young Wolodja arrived, she was welcoming to him as well, and the three of them were like a family.

Aika war fast wie eine Mutter zu Tonja, die aus Moskau dann in den Tierpark kam als sie zwei Jahre alt war. EinJungtier zum Spielen zu haben brachte Aika viel neue Energie,sie begann wieder mit Tonja zu spielen. Später, als dann dann der junge Wolodja hinzu kam begrüßte sie auch ihn sehr freudlich und die drei waren wie eine Familie zusammen.

Aika going for some carrots

Breadsticks for Aika

So it is in Tierpark Berlin, that life goes on. We say farewell to Aika, but look forward to watching Tonja's cub grow up.

So ist es nun im Tierpark Berlin, das Leben geht weiter. Wir verabschieden uns von Aika, jedoch freuen uns Tonjas Nachwuchs aufwachsen zu sehen. 

Aika

     

Farewell, Aika