Nuka entertains his fans in Toledo

Nuka seems to be a happy fellow.

21 year old Nuka knows he's a popular fellow, and is happy to see his fans when they come to visit him in the Toledo Zoo. Especially because Ice Queen Crystal has chosen to remain behind the scenes for most of the summer, only making rare appearances.

I visited Nuka a few weeks ago in Toledo. On both days I was there, he was out and about, greeting the visitors, strolling about and swimming. Crystal remained hidden.

During my Toledo visit, Nuka came over to one of the windows where I was waiting with my camera, and posed quite deliberately for me, looking me right in the eye. Maybe he remembered me from my visits to Detroit?

My private moment with Nuka

Gazing into my camera lens.

A little smile from Nuka

 One of the employees showed me a photo of Crystal taken the night before, as she had come out during a Friday night private event but only napped in the den. Crystal has the choice of coming out. The people who know her, the employees, say she will probably come out more often in the fall, when cooler weather returns. 

Nuka contemplates diving into the pool.

Nuka does his pacing, to be sure, back and forth between the den entrance and the public window at the end of the enclosure. He also enjoys swimming his laps, jumping into the chilled pool and coming face to face with the visitors in the underwater viewing area. 

Entertaining the visitors.

Sometimes he plays with the visitors through the glass, especially the kids. Nuka is a people person.

Blowing bubbles, always a big hit

Nuka and his cousin Lee (in the Columbus Zoo) are the only male bears living in the US who have fathered cubs.  Nuka is the father of Astra and Laerke, girls born in the Detroit Zoo in 2020, and Kallik and Kallu, boys born in the Toledo Zoo in 2022. The mother of the Detroit twins is Suka, and her mother Crystal is mother of the Toledo twins. 

Up close and personal with Nuka

Nuka's twin brother Koda remains in Memphis alone. It is a mystery to me why he is not in a breeding situation, but there he is, alone.

Nuka up close.

Nuka and his twin brother Koda were born November 25, 2004, in Denver, to Voda and Kavek, who are also parents of Cranbeary of the Alaska Zoo, born three years earlier.

Nuka through the door of the den in Toledo.

Nuka and his twin brother Koda moved to Pittsburgh when they were two years old, and then in 2011 Nuka moved to Detroit alone, leaving Koda in Pittsburgh. In Detroit, Nuka lived with Talini for a time, and then Suka.

Suka and daughter Astra in 2021 Detroit.

Suka and Nuka's other daughter Laerke in 2021, Detroit. Laerke had health difficulties shortly after birth and was raised by keepers. She had a rescued grizzly bear companion Jebbie to play with. 

When Suka had her twins, Nuka moved to Toledo, where he fathered Kallik and Kallu, then back to Detroit.

Crystal in 2023, nursing the cubs in the den where visitors could watch. 

Underwater portrait of Nuka in Toledo.

When Crystal's new mate wildborn Kali did not work out, the two male bears were switched, and Nuka came back to Toledo, where he is today. They knew that Crystal liked Nuka, and she wasn't fond of Kali at all. Crystal is almost 28 years old, and has had nine cubs. She deserves a comfortable retirement, but the Species Survival program still has hopes that they can breed her. 

Nuka walking the boundary in Detroit in 2021,
with Suka and young Astra watching Dad.

Nuka also has a lot of fans in Detroit, where he lived for many years, and fathered twin girls Astra and Laerke with Crystal's daughter Suka. 

Nuka always has a friendly smile.

When Suka was busy raising Astra, and leaving Laerke to the care of the keepers, Nuka made the move to Toledo where he spent time with Suka's mother Crystal. The result was twin boys Kallik and Kallu, born in 2022.  

Kallik and Kallu at age 2 in Toledo

Nuka in Toledo

Nuka in Toledo. He will be 22 this fall.

Crystal (center) and her cubs Kallik and Kallu,
 fathered by Nuka in Toledo. 

Crystal at the cubs' birthday party. Crystal is in the middle.

Nuka went through a bad time when his reputation suffered after the death of Anana, who had moved to Detroit from Cincinnati. At first it was reported that Nuka, gentle Nuka, had killed her in a breeding attempt. It was later found, but not widely reported, that Anana had suffered heart failure, nothing to do with Nuka. Any wounds she had on her head resulted from Nuka trying to wake her up. 

Nuka's cubs are now mostly grown and in other zoos. 

Astra is in Como Zoo in St. Paul Minnesota. Laerke is in Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma Washington. Kallik is in the Oregon Zoo in Portland, and Kallu is in the St. Louis Zoo in Missouri. 

A little family history:

Who is Nuka related to?

A bear named Clark was the great grandfather of Nuka and Koda, and also Cranbeary. 

 Voda, mother of Cranbeary, and twins Nuka and Koda, was daughter of Commodore who was born in Brookfield Zoo in 1972, the son of Clark.  This Clark was also the father of  the famous mother Arki, born in 1984 in the Brookfield Zoo and ending her days at the Louisville Zoo, and also of  Skeena, born in the Louisville Zoo in 1974. 

Arki became the mother of Marty, who was the father of all of Crystal's cubs in Toledo except for the last set of twins. So Marty and Nuka are related. Grandfather of Marty is Clark, who is great grandfather of Nuka. 

Skeena of Louisville was the mother of  twins Neil and Buzz, born in Louisville in 1995, and Neil is now in the Como Zoo;  Icee, who fathered twins Berlin and Yukon in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1989; Ulu born in Louisville in 1985 and the mother of Berit, longtime Cincinnati Zoo resident now living in Henry Vilas Zoo; and triplets Aquila, Aurora, Arcturus born in the Louisville Zoo in 1992. Of these bears, only Yukon has offspring going forward. He was the father of Aurora's four cubs: Lee of Columbus, Haley of Detroit, Anana of North Carolina, and Anoki of Rochester Of these four, only Lee of Columbus has offspring: Kulu now in Como Zoo. 

Oh my darling Clementine!

 

Clementine gets an ice treat, age 2 1/2. 

Little Bornean Orangutan Clementine made news with her birth 2 1/2 years ago, as the first orangutan born in the Columbus Zoo in 60 years. Named because she is small and sweet and also orange, Clementine is the daughter of Khali and Sulango. Her doting "auntie" (unrelated) Dumplin just turned an amazing 52 years old this month.

Clementine at 7 months, climbing the wall.
Her mother lets her explore but is close by. 

Clementine was born November 28, 2023 to first time mom Khali. Since young orangutans stay with their mothers for seven or eight years, a female orangutan will only have three or four children in her lifetime.  They have the longest childhood dependence of any animal except for humans.

Mama Khali guarding the baby so she doesn't fall. 

Orangutan mothers are nurturing and protective of their young, but other family members do help with raising the youngsters once they are past infancy. Auntie Dumplin is especially fond of baby Clementine and while it is good for Clementine to have such a good babysitter, it is also good for Dumplin, as the keepers say it has given the old lady a new lease on life. 

Baby Clementine in arms at 7 months.
They drink their mother's milk for up to eight years.

Clementine at 7 months, just starting to explore

 

Seven month old Clementine, curious but stays close to mom.

Now, in the summer of 2026, Clementine is a confident toddler, ready to take on the world, although she still runs back to Mom Khali on occasion. 

                                      Clementine and her mom now

A few weeks ago, the orangutans were given ice treats with apples frozen inside. Clementine scampered about, gathering up her snowballs. 

                                                Clementine and her treat

                Treat time for all. There were two ice balls for each.

At one point, Mom Khali came over to try to steal one of her daughter's ice treats, but Clementine would have none of that!

                                                Clementine guards her ice treats

                                   She notices an airplane overhead. Curious!

                                          

                                                       What does mom have?

                                                             Plenty for everyone

                                             Playtime for Clementine

Auntie Dumplin just turned 52 years old in July.  She helps tend to Clementine, but is also known for her weaving skills. The keepers give Dumplin strips of cloth to make works of art.

The Bornean Orangutans are found in the Australia / Islands part of the Columbus Zoo. 

Kali has two girlfriends

Kali in Detroit

At almost 14 years of age, Kali is a lucky guy, with two girlfriends and living in the Detroit Zoo in one of the best polar bear habitats in the world. He spends his days napping, enjoying interesting snacks, wandering around the meadow in the tundra area, swimming through caves in the ice pack's saltwater pool, and watching his companions Suka and Haley swim and play nearby. 

Kali marches around the tundra area in Detroit Zoo 

He has gone through many years living alone up to this point, however. 

Kali looking rather solemn after being awoken from his nap

Kali profile

His story begins with a terrible tragedy. Kali was born in a snow den in the wilds of Alaska, near Point Lay on the Chuckchi Sea coast in the winter of 2012-13. His mother was larger than your normal female polar bear, so much so that a native Alaskan hunter mistook her for a male and shot her during a subsistence hunt. Upon examining the bear's body, the hunter realized that he had killed a nursing mother. The hunter knew there was at least one hungry cub out there, in desperate need of help and some good luck. The hunter followed the mother bear's tracks back to the den and found a tiny cub, tucked the baby into his coat, or maybe his backpack, giving him a ride to safety on his snowmobile. This was in March of 2013. 

Baby Kali in Buffalo

Kali's name comes from the native word for the village of Point Lay. 

Kali and Luna in Buffalo Zoo

Kali was turned over to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and taken to the Alaska Zoo, where he was bottle fed and cared for. The Alaska Zoo had done this before, for Qannik, who now lives in the Louisville Zoo. 

Kali standing tall in Buffalo Zoo

In May, the cub was flown to the Buffalo Zoo in New York State, where young Luna was being raised by the keepers after her mother Anana neglected and ignored her. Luna was exactly the same age as Kali, and could use a playmate as well as helping Kali develop his bear skills. Both mother Anana and father Nanuq had moved to other zoos long before Kali arrived. 

Little Kali, next to the zebras.

I visited Luna and Kali in the summer of 2013, and found the two youngsters wrestling and playing up a storm. Because the Buffalo Zoo had just started construction of new polar bear habitats on the spot of the old bear grottos, the little bears were given a fenced in area next to one of the buildings, where they had constant supervision, a shallow pool, a semblance of a forest, shade, room to play and lots of toys. And of course they had each other. 

Luna and Kali

While Kali spent much of his time playing with Luna or on his own, he also had to get over the trauma of losing his mother. He comforted himself by sucking on his paws, and humming  loudly like he had a little motor running, as cubs do when they nurse. 

Kali and Luna at play. They had such good times.

The cubs were the star attraction of the zoo, with lots of folks wanting to get a glimpse of this cute little odd couple. 

Baby Kali

Everything seemed to be going well for these two cubs, until they were moved to the tiger enclosure. Luna fell into the moat and broke her leg, so the two cubs were separated while Luna's leg healed.

Kali at play

The playmates did have some time together once again, but soon Kali was sent off to the St. Louis Zoo, which had just opened up its fantastic new polar bear habitat Polar Bear Point, in May of 2015, and needed an occupant. 

Kali in St. Louis, 2016.

He settled into his new home in St. Louis just fine, and was a popular guy with all the zoo visitors, but he was all alone. The Department of Fish and Wildlife had rules that allowed rescued cubs to be housed and cared for in zoos, but they were not to be allowed in the breeding programs, so Kali was not to have a companion. 

Kali loved the kids in St. Louis. This photo was from 2016,

Kali is a very sociable bear, and loved interacting with all the visitors in St. Louis. His people-oriented personality probably comes from being fed and raised by humans in the Alaska Zoo and then the Buffalo Zoo. Kali is still beloved in St. Louis. 

Kali on his favorite ledge,
where he liked to sit and watch his fans in St. Louis

Kali with his tire in St. Louis. 

Kali in 2017 in St. Louis

Because of various political pressures, and the fact that polar bear breeding in the US zoos was in great need of fresh genes, the ban on rescued polar bears breeding was lifted several years ago. Kali, and Qannik too, could now be part of the breeding program.

In an exchange, the 2 year old twin boy cubs Kallik and Kallu from Toledo were sent to St. Louis in early 2025, and Kali was sent to Toledo, in hopes that he would be a breeding partner for the twins' mother Crystal, even though she is probably too old for such a venture and Kali was not prepared to deal with a female and inexperienced, having been alone for so long. 

Crystal and her twin sons, Kallik and Kallu
on their second birthday in Toledo. 

In Toledo, it was not a love match. Crystal actively avoided Kali, and Kali did not know how to deal with this mature polar bear lady. 

The queen mother, Crystal.

By the start of the next breeding season, it was arranged that Nuka, the father of Crystal's last set of twins, would come back to Toledo from Detroit, and Kali would go to Detroit to try his luck with Suka and Haley, the ladies there. At least they knew Crystal could get along with Nuka. 

The handsome mature Kali in Detroit

In Detroit, Kali had to figure out how to impress these two females, and he had no idea. There was some breeding going on with both girls, but this was all new to Kali, and those watching what was going on expressed doubts that he was up to this new challenge. He was an inexperienced boyfriend, but he was trying. There may be cubs this year, however chances don't look good. Maybe we will be surprised. Kali has learned a lot about dealing with the ladies, and should do much better the next breeding season. 

Haley in front, Kali strolling away.

After breeding season, the girls pretty much avoided Kali, but things are getting better. Haley especially has been trying to socialize Kali. After all, he hasn't had much experience as an adult polar bear dealing with other polar bears. He has learned a lot in his first breeding season about courtship. And even this summer there have been times when all three, Kali and his two lady companions, have been seen playing together in the freshwater pool.

Kali is looking great. He weighs in at a magnificent 1500 pounds. His fur is thick and clean, and he walks around like he owns the place. He has gained a lot of confidence in the last year. Hopefully his wild genes will be passed on with successful breeding seasons to come.

Kali atop the underwater viewing tunnel

Haley, lower left, with her eye on Kali, in the viewing tunnel

I noticed a little bit of the Baby Kali mannerisms when I visited the Detroit Zoo. When he stood atop the tunnel, I saw that he moved one of his paws in the same waving way he did when he was a baby, in a comforting move. Very sweet. 

Kali repeatedly waves his paw while atop the viewing tunnel, which may be a reminder of a comforting movement from when he was a baby in Buffalo, when he was sucking on his paw. 

Kali's paws, as he stands on the viewing tunnel. 

Detroit Zoo's Arctic Ring of Life has two separate areas, Pack Ice and Tundra, which is a beautiful meadow.

Kali and his friends are living in one of the best polar bear zoo habitats in the world, The Arctic Ring of Life, a 4,2 acre park divided into the grassy hills of the Tundra with a 30,000 gallon freshwater pool, and the Pack Ice which offers a 300,000 gallon salt water pool dissected with a 70 foot underwater viewing tunnel for visitors. Currently, the bears have access to all the habitat, but it can be divided when needed, as when cubs are born.