Double the Birthday Fun in Toledo

 

The cubs, on the left, both want the same piece.
Crystal is in the back.

It was a Pumpkin Party weekend to celebrate birthdays at the Arctic Encounter at the Toledo Zoo. Supermom Crystal turned 26 on November 10, and her twin sons Kallik and Kallu turned two years old the next day, on November 11. On each of the two birthday mornings, the bears awoke to some pumpkin treats along with other goodies.

Crystal, on the right, and one of her sons enjoy some pumpkin.

Crystal, after having her fill of pumpkin pieces, retreated to her favorite nap spot on top of  lookout rock, while Kallu and Kallik spent both mornings making up new games, and in between they would return to the big party staging room to check out what was left of the party fixings.

Kalu, Kallik and Crystal with the watermelon at Monday's party.

It is not easy to tell the cubs apart, even though Kallu weighs considerably more, for the cubs are always on the move. So the photos here could be either one. Kallik, who has always been smaller, weighs 607 pounds, and his brother Kallu is a hefty 731. Kallu is more of a mama's boy, and tends to spend more time around his mother normally, but with all the excitement of the party, he mostly played with his brother.

Some of the leftover goodies, sweet potatoes and celery.

Crystal in the front snacks on herring.

There were pumpkins, sweet potatoes, watermelon, celery (I think it was celery), little fishies and delicious substances smeared on the birthday signs for licking.

Some cute signs for Kallu and Kallik.

Looking quite innocent, Kallik ignores the Terrible 2's sign.

The boys played a lot with the pumpkin and sweet potato pieces, dragging them outside to play both in and out of the water.

A pumpkin bowl is perfect for carrying.

Maybe this piece is too big to carry.

A waterlogged pumpkin, still tastes good.

Just a few more bites.

This is awkward.

Pumpkins make me smile.

The floating tube is a favorite toy too.

Play and a snack.

Just rolling along.

Can I get a "thumbs up" for my multi-tasking skills?

The brothers had the best time just playing with each other.

There was a lot of serious biting going on.
This is how polar bears practice their hunting and fighting skills
for later on, when they are grown.

I dare you...

I double dog dare you, come on!

Play fighting is fun.

Don't run away now!

Time for more water wrestling.

Another favorite toy is the black lid. The boys play with their lids  by the hour, flipping and diving and retrieving the silly things.

Hiding the lid in the nursing den...

Flipping the lid in the big pool...

How high can you throw this thing?

The boys are bonded, as happens with twins, and Kallu is very close to his mother. But the time for them to leave is coming soon. We don't know where they will go, or if they will go together. There is some talk that Toledo might even keep one of the youngsters, since Crystal is aging and they want to make sure their polar bear habitat has a beloved bear living there. 

These early years together are precious. They grow up so fast. And even with these busy boys, there are some quiet times together.

Crystal came down from her rocky roost for a few moments,
 and played with one of the boys, probably Kallu, since he tends to be near his mother. The outdoor viewing window was fogged up,
 making it appear to be a beautiful dream.

A pause in the water play for the brothers.

The brothers love each other. 

I drove three hours in the rain and the dark to get to Toledo on Sunday morning for Crystal's party, stayed overnight for the boy's party, then drove three hours to get home. But I wouldn't have wanted to miss this special time with the Toledo bears. Kallik and Kallu will be Crystal's last babies. She has raised nine cubs in all in the Toledo Zoo. The end of an era. I will do another post, just about Crystal's birthday and her great legacy. She's a legendary mother and a beautiful bear. 

Lazy summer days for Aurora and Lee

 

Aurora on land, Lee in the water

24 year old Lee and 17 year old Aurora are enjoying the last days of summer in the Columbus Zoo by napping, lazing around in the sun, and taking an occasion dip in their deep salt water pool. 

Aurora napping in the late summer sun.

Aurora is sleeping more and more, and wanting to be inside as denning season approaches. She has gained 250 pounds over the summer, now weighing in at 800 pounds. Her guy Lee returned from his stay at the Louisville Zoo in February of 2023, but no cubs resulted last winter, but baby hopes are high for this year.

My U.S. polar bear cub forecast predicts good chances for both Aurora, and also for her younger sister Suka, who lives in the Detroit Zoo with Nuka. Aurora is the mother of five cubs already, and Suka has been pregnant three times, with one successful birth and raising of twins (with help from the keepers for Laerke).

Lee says hello

A friendly smile

Lee dragging around a blanket toy

Lee weighs in at 1100 pounds. He has been around the block a few times, born in Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester NY in 1999, and spending time in Lincoln Park in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and Denver, but not fathering any cubs. He came to Columbus for the first time in November of 2018, where he got along just fine with twin sisters Aurora and Anana. The arrival of Aurora's son Kulu in 2019 meant that things were getting crowded in Columbus, so he was sent to the Louisville Zoo in 2020, coming back in 2023. By that time, Anana had passed away, so it was just Aurora waiting for him.

Aurora and Anana in 2011.
The keepers painted Aurora's paw so they could tell the girls apart.

I talked to a docent at the zoo about the loss of Anana. He said that she had had a cold, some sort of respiratory illness. It didn't seem too severe, but it quickly turned into encephalitis, and Anana's body just couldn't fight off the infection. It was suspected she had some sort of autoimmune condition.  In mid October of 2022, she died one month short of her 16th birthday.  

Young Kulu and his Auntie Anana in 2021. They were happy playmates.

Aurora and Lee's son Kulu now lives in the Como Zoo in St. Paul Minnesota with two elderly bears, Nan and Neil. Neil is brother of the late Icee, who was grandfather of Kulu's father Lee.

Elderly Neil and young Kulu in Como Zoo in 2022.

I visited the Columbus Zoo on the first day of September, and it promised to be a hot one. Lee and Aurora had been out earlier in the morning, but had gone inside for their breakfast. At about 11:15 each morning, the bear keepers present a morning snack to either the neighboring Alaskan Brown Bears Brutus and Buckeye, or to the polar bears. This day, it was the polar bears. Lee had been playing with an indestructible blue rug, but came over to the big pool when it was time. Aurora had been napping in the sun, and she was not interested in moving. 

Lee heads for snack time at the pool

Aurora would rather sleep than snack.

Lee had some snacks, and swam around for a bit, but was attracted to the window, possibly to a bag of strawberries that someone had left on the floor. Did Lee know that this was some delicious food on the other side of the glass? He did seem interested in that one spot.

Lee is curious.

Lee is just checking things out.

Ah, something yummy...

Sad. Lee can't get to the strawberries through the window.

Finally Aurora decided to wake up and come check things out.

Aurora thinks about coming into the pool
while Lee flirts with a little girl.

 She watched Lee play with the folks at the window, and then swam for a bit, playing with a plastic lid. 

The lid makes a great toy.

By this time, Lee was napping on a rock, half in the water and half out.

Good way for Lee to keep cool during his nap.

Aurora scratches her back on some rocks.

 After some water play, Aurora shook off the drops and headed for her den, where she would probably nap in air conditioned comfort for the afternoon. When I left, Lee was still sleeping in the shallow water.

Aurora heads for the den.

Aurora has always had her cubs in November, so we will wait and see. She is already mother to Nora, who lives in the Portland Zoo, twins Nuniq (now in Kansas City) and Neva (now in Salt Lake City), and young Kulu in Como Zoo. The father of Nora, Nuniq and Neva was the late Nanuq.

Aurora's cubs
 - a poster on the wall.

Family connections

Aurora and her twin sister were born in the Toledo Zoo in 2006, the offspring of Belgium born Crystal and the late Marty. Those parents went on to produce Siku, twins Suka and Sakari, Hope and Bo, and after Marty died, Crystal's new guy was Nuka from Detroit, and they had twins Kallik and Kallu almost two years ago.

Crystal's sister in Belgium, Blanche, was mother of Nanuk of Skandinavisk Dyrepark in Denmark, where he fathered Danish Siku, twins Nanu and Nuno, and Nuno now has twin cubs, so Aurora has cousins in Denmark.

Lee is the son of the late Aurora and Yukon of Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester NY. His siblings are twin sister Anana of North Carolina, Haley of Memphis and Anoki, now back at home in Rochester. Aurora was sister of the late Denali, who went to Japan and fathered eight cubs there, so Lee is related to many Japanese bears.

Lee's mother Aurora (many bears have been named Aurora and Anana) was half sister Kiska of ABQ Biopark, and of  the late Anana, mother of Luna. Lee's great grandfather Bruno was father of CW, who went to Europe and was mother and grandmother of many cubs there, so Lee has European cousins. Lee's father Yukon and his twin sister Berlin were the only polar bear cubs born and raised in the Cincinnati Zoo. Yukon and Berlin's father Icee was brother to Neil, now living in the Como Zoo with his great nephew Kulu.

Fritz the hippo turns two!

Fritz goes for the gold in the baton grabbing competition.

 

Over the weekend, the famous Fritz, also known by friends as Tater Tot, celebrated his second birthday at Hippo Cove in the Cincinnati Zoo, along with his mom Bibi, his even more famous sister Fiona, and his father Tucker. All these photos were from Saturday's birthday celebration. I arrived just after the cake ceremony.

Fritz with his tasty "birthday cake." Photo by my friend Lisa Hubbard.

Early birds could witness Fritz getting his "birthday cake," which was an extravaganza, some colorful fruit popsicle treats stacked on top of huge lettuce leaves.  The entire bloat got some watermelon on Friday, to celebrate National Watermelon Day, which was actually Saturday. 

No, Fiona, it isn't your birthday.
(But she posed anyway in the frame.)

The Cincinnati Zoo's enrichment team had painted a birthday balloon frame, like a birthday card, onto the viewing window. Fiona took her turn posing there, pretending it was her birthday too. Since Fiona was born in January, her birthday parties are often impacted by the cold and winter weather, so this was her chance, while brother Fritz was busy playing with his favorite stick.

Fiona, now age 7, is famous the world over for her miraculous survival after being born six weeks prematurely, weighing only 29 pounds instead of the 50-100 pounds that a full term hippo baby weighs, and being unable to stand to nurse. She was raised by the keepers, and had several medical interventions to save her. Eventually, she was reintroduced to her mother Bibi, and then her father, Henry. Her journey was covered heavily on social media at the time, and since then, numerous books have been written about her. Her fans come from all over the world to see her and her hippo family at the Cincinnati Zoo. And now Fritz has gotten some notoriety too, mostly for being Fiona's little brother. 

Fritz likes to stalk unsuspecting logs, sneaking up and then attacking.
 The logs don't know what hit them.

Fritz on the prowl for logs.

Got one! Fritz does it over and over again.

Fritz really likes the long stick.
 Lots of paparazzi around to capture the moment. 

The happy birthday boy

More paparazzi,

A smile from the birthday boy.

There goes Fritz, running through the birthday frame with his family.

Fritz with his extra long stick, a favorite toy on his birthday.

Fritz also spent some time chasing his daddy Tucker around and giving him some bites, as Fritz likes to do!

Fritz gives daddy Tucker some bites. It's one of his favorite games.

Some fans even wore special Fritz birthday t-shirts for the occasion and were happy to pose with Zoo Director Thane Maynard, who stopped by to wish Fritz a happy birthday.

Fritz is only two years old, and will remain at Hippo Cover for a few more years, but will have to leave as he grows up. Although Daddy Tucker is quite tolerant and loving now, when Fritz gets older, the older hippo bull will see him as competition, and there would be fights. When the time comes, Fritz will be sent to another zoo, where he can start his own family.

We all know that Fiona isn't going anywhere.