Friday, February 16, 2024

A boyfriend for Qannik


                                          The lovely bachelorette Qannik


Wildborn Qannik is 13 years old now, and about to get her first boyfriend.

Bo playing with a pipe feeder in Henry Vilas
 Borealis, or Bo for short, made the trip from Henry Vilas Zoo in Wisconsin to Glacier Run in Louisville a few weeks ago, and is now out of quarantine, the zoo has announced. Bo has been exploring the outdoor habitat and maybe in a few weeks, he will spend some time with Qannik. 

Qannik of Glacier Run

Qannik has never shared space with another bear, but she is quite familiar with having male bears as close neighbors. Bo's brother Siku used to live in Glacier Run, and he would watch Qannik across the way in the other enclosure. But since Qannik is property of Fish and Wildlife, she was not allowed to be part of the breeding program until just a few months ago. Lately, she has been enjoying the companionship of a wild Night Heron, who has adopted the bear habitat as its home. It will be interesting to see how Bo reacts to the bird.

Qannik and her "pet" Night Heron.


Qannik, here with a big smile, loves the water. Bo does too.

Qannik also is familiar with Lee, who lived at Glacier Run for some time, but is now back in Columbus with Bo's much older sister Aurora. Each of the male bears in Glacier Run was close by in a downstairs bedroom area, so Qannik would see them and smell them and even growl at them. But to have no bars in between, that will be something new for our girl.

Bo was very interactive with people
 when he lived in Toledo with his mom Crystal

Qannik was raised by keepers after her rescue from the oilfields of Alaska, first in the Alaska Zoo, and then after she was flown to Louisville in late June of 2011.

Bo loves toys. Here is is in Toledo as a baby.
Bo is the five year old son of Crystal and the late Marty, so he is closely related to most of the younger bears in the USA zoos. Qannik, being rescued from the wilds of Alaska as a tiny cub, has valuable genes. 

Baby Bo

Berit, on right, showed Bo the proper way to court a lady.
Bo has been living with older lady bear Berit for three years in Henry Vilas Zoo, so she has taught him how to get along with a female roommate. Bo is young, so will probably not be dominant with Qannik, who is used to being a diva.


Qannik in her rocker toy, not long after she arrived in Louisville.


Baby Qannik with a crazy egg.



They do have some things in common. Bo always loved to swim in the pool at Henry Vilas, and Qannik is quite the water baby too. She really enjoys her underwater adventures in the deep dive pool at Glacier Run. So maybe they will have some fun together in the water. 

Qannik and one of her pickles. She has gone through quite a few.

The two potential sweethearts also like their toys. Qannik will have to learn to share her giant pickle. 

Qannik at her 13th birthday.

So now Louisville is about to get its own version of "The Bachelor." Here's hoping it is love at first sight for our two polar bear sweethearts.



Wednesday, January 24, 2024

A new "Era" for Qannik


Qannik at her birthday party in 2023

 It's time to celebrate Qannik's birthday with a party, and also to look ahead to what her future might hold. This year the party had a Taylor Swift theme with an environmental twist.

The keepers setting up the party on January 20, 2024.
Qannik was gifted a new giant pickle by a fan.

This past Saturday, Louisville Zoo celebrated Qannik's 13th birthday with a Swifty theme, on a sunny but bitterly cold day. Perfect for a polar bear.

A new ball, a t-shirt slogan, and an icy treat for Qannik.

Qannik got a new red ball and a new giant pickle, plus lots of her favorite pumpkin chunks. The specially designed posters were affixed to blocks with yummy peanut butter, and Qannik had fun ripping off the posters and licking the peanut butter.

Qannik comes down the ramp to the "stage"
 which was set with song lyrics and Swifty sayings.

Qannik performs some clever dance steps for her fans.

The zoo decided that because Qannik was entering her teen years, a Taylor Swift theme would be appropriate. The keepers had fun putting together the song lyrics and Swifty sayings that decorated the "stage."

Qannik inspects the Conservation ERA poster, featuring her photos.


Qannik in front of her ERAS poster.

Qannik's version of the ERAS poster


                                   Promoting Conservation the Qannik way. 
                                  "Cruel Summer" is a Taylor Swift song.


                               Delicious poster for Qannik's RED album.


                                       Qannik shows off how tall she is.

So many pretty bear pictures on the poster.

Qannik's special guest at her party was the Night Heron,
 a native bird to Kentucky who has made Glacier Run his home for the past year. Qannik doesn't seem to mind.


Click on this link below to see my story and photos in Knuti's Magazine featuring more pics of the Night Heron with Qannik:


Knuti's Magazine story on Qannik

The number of polar bears in US zoos has been in decline for several decades. While there were once 300 or so polar bears in US zoos, the number is now down to below 40. All the younger bears are closely related, which makes pairing them off more difficult. 

A poorly thought through federal law passed in 2008 banned the import of polar bears from other countries.  Whereas we used to trade polar bears to Europe and even Japan, and brought in bears as well, that was stopped. Crystal, our most prolific mother and grandmother, was born in Belgium, and without her, there would be no young ones here in the US. 

Crystal of the Toledo Zoo, with one of her current twins.

To complicate matters, rescued polar bear cubs from Alaska had been deemed to be the property of Fish and Wildlife and under their jurisdiction. For many years, these bears, even though they were born in the US, could not be part of the breeding program. That is changing, and thus Qannik can be matched with a male polar bear now.

It isn't just Qannik who has been affected. A young female polar bear named Zara was rescued last year and now lives at the Alaska Zoo. She is two years old.

The San Diego Zoo has three wildborn bears, but female Chinook is too old to breed, and 23 year old brother and sister twins Kalluk and Tatqiq are bonded and would not do well apart. Tatqiq has been on birth control for many years, so she cannot reproduce, but Kalluk might be considered for breeding as his wild genes are valuable. I have understood that Chinook, Kalluk and Tatqiq were grandfathered anyway, and not included in the breeding ban of wild bears.

 Kali, the male polar bear who was rescued when his mother was shot by a hunter, and who lived in the Alaska Zoo, then the Buffalo Zoo as a companion to young Luna, and now in the St. Louis Zoo, has been living alone for years, but maybe now can be matched with a suitable female from our core family from Crystal.

Of course zoos that currently have a polar bear or two are not happy to give them up, so it will probably be a struggle to find a mate for Qannik. Since she is wildborn, her genes are quite valuable, and she is not related to any of the other zoo bears.

20 year old Payton, who was born in the Brookfield Zoo and later lived in the Memphis Zoo and then the North Carolina Zoo, was chosen to move to Louisville to be a mate to Qannik, but sadly he died two hours into his journey on October 25. It was later found that he had some heart disease and a tumor, but no definitive cause of death has been announced. 

So now we wait to see if our bachelorette bear will find a suitable companion. She has never lived with another polar bear, but she is quite familiar with both Siku of Lincoln Park and Lee of Columbus, for these males have also spent time in Louisville, living next door to Qannik, so she knows them in that way, accustomed to their scent and seeing them often, but not sharing a space exactly.

Siku during his years in the Louisville Zoo.

I am sure that both Nuka and Lee, as proven breeders, were on the list as possible suitors as Suka and Aurora waited through the denning up season, but as no cubs were born, these guys will not be moving, most likely.

Five year old Bo, who was born in Toledo and is now living with older lady bear Berit in Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison Wisconsin, might be a good choice, as he is young and just beginning his breeding years. Berit has given him the social skills to interact with a lady bear. Crystal's year old twin boys, Kalluk and Kallu, will be needing a place to which to move in about a year, and they could move in with Berit at Henry Vilas. 

Bo at Henry Vilas.

Qannik is quite people oriented, and something of a diva, so I suspect it will take some time for her to accept a boyfriend. She might do best with Bo, since he is young and probably willing to follow her lead. Breeding season is almost underway, so there will probably be no action this coming season.

So now Qannik waits to see who is coming to keep her company.

Qannik, our latest Bachelorette. 

Here's Qannik in 2020, showing that she can "Shake It Off."


Wednesday, December 27, 2023

A snack for the Aalborg bears

Malik sits at the restaurant table, waiting for someone
 to take her order and serve her a fine gourmet dinner.

As 2023 comes to an end, one more look back at my visit to Aalborg Denmark in September.  In the wild, polar bears mostly prey on seals, and occasionally on a beached whale.

But in zoos, what do they have for dinner? They have some interesting favorites in Aalborg Zoo in Denmark, things that they would never dream of in the wild.


Fish is regularly served up to the polar bears, sometimes Salmon, sometimes mackerel,
 sometimes even trout.




Polar bears need lots of fat. Sometimes they are given lard, which the bears find yummy. Sometimes they get skin with layers of fat, and they have to work hard to get the fat off.


Malik enjoying some fatty skin the cubs just dug up out of the gravel.

Sisters Imaq and Inuk wonder how to share this fatty skin.


Children may pester their mother,
 but still are welcome in this restaurant.

Malik is still waiting to be served.



In September, our group of polar bear fans got a special treat ourselves when we we allowed to go behind the scenes and bring fruit and vegetables from a list approved by the zookeepers. Some of the vegetables came from our gardens. The bears got cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, pears, celery, carrots and more.

A special treat, corn on the cob, already shucked,
 and brought by visitors.

Three watermelons, one for each. They really like the melon.
This was the first time they had it.

Here the bears get some pears from a visitor in the polar bear group.

Grapes are good too. Like a Roman orgy.

Malik's favorite is celery.

The cubs like celery too.

Yummy carrots

Celeriac is very funny looking, but Malik loves it.
The kids are liking their carrots. Synchronized eating.



Dinner is served. It looks like Fennel and Fish are on the menu.


The favorite meal for the cubs comes from Mom.
Even though they are four years old.



Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Malik and her girls of Aalborg Zoo

 

Inuk, Imaq and Mother Malik.
The cub who stays on land is on the left,
 and the cub who likes the water is in the middle.

My first international trip in almost five years, and I missed Aalborg Zoo most of all. I had not yet met Malik's most recent twins, Imaq and Inuq, the offspring of the late Nord. So I arranged to spend some time in Aalborg in September, and it was a gathering of polar bear fans as well.

Here I am with Ralph from the UK, in front of one of the lower windows, as the cubs roll in the river rocks. Photo by my friend Sussi

Although the cubs, who turned four years old in November, have been chipped, with a name assigned to each chip, even the keepers seem are not quite sure which one is Imaq and which is Inuk. DNA tests have shown that both are girls. The cubs are a bit smaller than their mom, but not by much, so it is easy to mix the three of them up at times. They were still nursing in September, even at that age, so sometimes you can tell it is Malik when you can see the milk bar on her chest, or the trailing beard under her chin.

Malik still nursing her cubs, who are almost four years old.

At this age, the cubs are easy to tell apart, both by appearance and by behavior.

Malik in the middle, with the cub who likes water on the left,
and the cub who stays on land is on the right.

One of the girls has a bigger head and thicker neck, and almost a fluffy mane of fur, and she is a little darker. That one tends to hang around her mother a little more, often following Malik about, and this cub is usually on land, only goes into the water sometimes to play with her sister or fetch food, reluctantly. 

The land favoring cub on the left, with Mother Malik.
She likes to be near mom.

The other cub has a more streamlined look, sleeker fur and is lighter in color. She is the independent girl, away from mom a lot more, and tends to be in the water most of the time. 

Water cub and Land cub


Water cub and Land cub, Imaq and Inuk, who is who?

There are times when both cubs are in the water, having some wonderful splashy battles, or enjoying the many snacks the keepers throw in for them. Or they are both on land.

Sisters wrestle in the water

Another way to tell the cubs apart is that the cub who likes to be near mom and stay on land also really likes to interact with the visitors, especially my friend Ralph. She would spend forever sitting with him, playing with him, talking to him. We were all enchanted with the "bearmance."


The cub who likes to be on land also really likes Ralph.



                          Watch out, she wants to eat that hat.

The special gathering of polar bear fans was held on Wednesday, September 13, and it was open to anyone who wanted to come to the zoo that day. Ralph from the UK was there, as well as Marga and Hartmut from Berlin. And of course the Danish fans.

Some of the polar bear group, photo by Jeanette.

The highlight of the day came when we were allowed a behind the scenes visit to the polar bears, and we brought fruits and vegetables to feed them, approved by the keeper. We brought apples, pears and grapes, as well as carrots, cucumbers, shucked corn on the cob and tomatoes. Their favorite treat seems to be celery. 

One of the guests feeding cucumbers to the bears.

It is exciting to be so close to the polar bears, and to watch their delight as they got their special treats. I fed them the corn, giving each bear a cob, but one cub stole from her sister, and ran away with two cobs all to herself. 


The cub who likes to be in the water seems to be dominant,
 as she her sister's cob of corn and ran away.

Jeanette also brought three watermelons for the keeper to throw into the pool later. That was a big hit too.

Waiting for the watermelons

Watermelon in the water

Best to find a place to eat this, away from sister.

Chowing down


Running away with the prize. There were three melons for three bears.

Making a delicious mess. They ended up eating the rind too.


Some leftover grapes are found