Bear Switcheroo

 

Aurora on the polar bear side.

The Columbus Zoo, home to Aurora and Lee Polar Bears, and Brutus and Buckeye Alaskan Brown Bears, has two glorious bear habitats adjacent. This summer, the zoo is experimenting with switching out the polar bears and the brown bears for enrichment purposes, as this will give each pair a kind of "vacation" to visit an area unfamiliar and interesting.  So far they have switched the bears twice, each time for just a day, to give the bears a chance to experience how the other half lives, so to speak.

Brutus (or Buckeye) sleeping on the brown bear side.

Both spacious habitats kind of face each other, with a central visitors' center in between, and a wall at the end in common behind which are the "bedrooms" of the bears. It is fairly easy to route the bears to the opposite side and the unfamiliar enclosure, so that is what the staff has done on several occasion, with hopes to continue this fun activity for all four of the bears.

Lee rubbing his scent onto the wood, after the brown bears were there the day previous.

I was at the Columbus Zoo the day after the old switcheroo, so I saw how the polar bears reacted when they were back in their familiar territory after the "invaders" had left.

Lee makes sure the furniture smells like polar bears.

Lee was quite intent on making sure his scent was on various spots around the enclosure where the brown bears had rubbed their scent. 

Aurora rubbing her scent on a large log, where the brown bears had rubbed the day before.

Aurora rubs on the  logs around the enclosure, lending her scent
to the spots the brown bears had visited. 

Aurora, too, spent a lot of time rubbing on the rocks where the brown bears had marked. 

Brown bear napping in the brown bear area.

The brown bears, however, didn't seem to care as much as whether some other bears had rubbed their scent onto logs in their side the previous day. One of the bears was inside, sleeping, and the other was slumbering in the sun, not really caring who had been there the day before.

A view of the brown bear swimming area, a shallow pool, where Lee enjoyed showing off his skills.

I gathered that on the previous day, the day of the habitat exchange, the polar bears were quite curious, smelling everything, investigating the new area. They were a great deal more active than usual. The large fish in the brown bear area had been removed to save them from being eaten by the polar bears. Lee liked swimming in the brown bear pool, which has a different orientation, not below the visitors but right in front of them, and Lee liked exhibiting his swimming skills with this new exposure, standing up for the guests even, in the shallow pool, batting around a red ball. 

The brown bears, on the other hand, enjoyed visiting the deeper pool on the polar bear side, and were quite playful, in spite of their 22 years. Usually, the brown bears are pretty quiet, but on the day of the exchange, they couldn't get enough of playing. Maybe that is why they were so quiet the next day, exhausted from all the frolicking.

Aurora in the pool, with the misting machine wafting cooling water drops over her. 

Aurora un-misted.

Aurora at her own pool,
with a crystal clear reflection. 

Lee was tired on the day after the exchange, and spent a great deal of his time napping, but taking a break to roll around on the grass, making sure it all smelled like polar bears again. 

Lee rolling his scent onto the grass

Also itching some spots.

Rolling in the grass feels so good. 

Aurora found her own sort of play, with cardboard boxes. She has figured out how to juggle the smashed pieces. 

Aurora noses the pieces of cardboard

Tossing the cardboard into the air

Making sure the cardboard smells like polar bear

More juggling with the paws

Aurora inspects the pickle, which had been put away the day before so the grizzly bears couldn't get to it. 

The grizzly bear brothers are very destructive, so all polar bear toys like the pickles had to be hidden away from the visitors. There is a display of the damage that Brutus and Buckeye did to the heavy duty window frame in their exhibit when they were younger.

What is left of the window frame from Brutus and Buckeyes' enclosure when the cubs first moved in.

On the day I visited, Lee did not swim and did not interact with Aurora, but Aurora enjoyed the pool quite a bit. 

 

Aurora poses for a picture.

Aurora lazing in the pool 

Aurora has a young fan.

Aurora and her late twin sister Anana were born in Toledo to Crystal (born in Belgium) and Marty(born in Brookfield) in 2006, so Aurora is 19 years old. She is the mother of four cubs: Nora, Nuniq, Neva and Kulu.

Lee and his twin sister Anana were born in Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester NY in 1999 to Aurora, born in Hogle Zoo and Yukon, born in the Cincinnati Zoo. He is 26 years old. Lee is the father of Aurora's son Kulu. 

Alaskan Brown Bears Brutus and Buckeye were orphaned in the wilds of Alaska and rescued in 2004 at just a couple of months old. They have spent almost their entire lives at the Columbus Zoo.   

Aurora climbed the big perching rock over the pool and took a nap. 

Rotating enclosures is employed at several other zoos. Brookfield Zoo in Chicago has three bear enclosures, and up until recently when they lost their brown bears, the polar bears and brown bears could be seen in any of the three habitats.

The Henry Vilas Zoo has two bear habitats, and when the grizzly sisters were hibernating, the polar bears were allowed to explore the neighboring habitat. 

The Louisville Zoo, where Lee lived for several years, has a bear habitat designed for rotating polar and brown bears, so Lee knows how this goes. Currently, grizzly bear Otis rotates with polar bears Qannik and Bo, between the big meadow area with the deep pool, and the smaller polar bear alley with a truck to climb into, stairs for exercise, pools of ice and piles of hay, across the way. 

Giving the animals a change of scene, with different layout, play opportunities and interesting scents, is a great form of enrichment.  

Lee in Polar Bear Alley in Louisville. 

Remembering Huggies

Huggies

Huggies was an iconic mother polar bear. A legend. Stories about her will be told for a long time. Her life held triumph and tragedy, and even stardom,  a long life surrounded by family,  keepers and fans who loved her. 

Huggies by the pool.

She was the mother of eight cubs: Freedom, triplets Jelle, Henk and Ewa,  twins Walker and the late Swimmer, and twins Lynn and Luka. 

Huggies in the old enclosure

Sadly, we lost Huggies this week, at the age of 32. It's a life that would not have been, if not for the brave fishermen who rescued her as a little cub alone on an ice floe near Russia's Wrangel Island back the spring of 1994. The young bear was brought to safety, and her further rescue was sponsored by diaper company Kimberly Clark, so she was named Huggies, after their signature diaper.

Sign at the Bear Forest - about Huggies companion of her youth.

Because she was just a cub, only a few months old and all alone, her new home Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands, brought in a brown bear cub of the same age, Björna, to be her companion and they could teach each other how to be bears. Björna, now an old bear too, is still there, across the way in the magnificent bear forest of the zoo.

Nuuk Nordman, in Skandinavisk Dyrepark.
 Father of Freedom while Huggies lived in Sweden.
Nuuk has since passed away. 

Huggies lived in Ouwehands for four years, then went to Kolmarden in Sweden, where she met Nordman (Nuuk), and gave birth to a daughter, Freedom, in 2001. Huggies and the cub moved to Ouwehands in March of 2002, when the cub was just a few months old.

Freedom's grandmother, Nordman's mother, was American born CW, who came from the Memphis Zoo. Nordman later moved to Skandinavisk Dyrepark in Denmark with his twin sister Ilka in 2006 when Kolmarden gave up polar bear keeping. So all of Freedom's cubs have American cousins.

Victor in retirement at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
 Victor has since passed away.

Young male bear Victor arrived in Ouwehands in 2000, while Huggies was away in Sweden, but moved to Amsterdam in late 2002, after Huggies' return, so Huggies could have room to raise her daughter. He returned in late 2003, and all the rest of Huggies' children were fathered by Victor, as well as most of Freedom's cubs.

Henk, one of Huggies' triplets, when he was in Eindhoven.

In November of 2005, Huggies gave birth to rare triplets, named Jelle, Ewa and Henk. The babies were named after the zookeepers of the time. The triplets went their separate ways, Jelle eventually ending up in Canada, where he now lives in Calgary. Jelle is the father of Shouka and Kinuk. Ewa went to Sweden where she had Miki, now deceased, and now lives in the UK. Henk went on to father six cubs in Eindhoven in the Netherlands and now lives in France. Henk is the father of twins Pixel and Nordje, twins Nickie and Simona, and twins Nivi and Elva.

Huggies' grandson Sprinter, in Hannover.

Huggies daughter Freedom gave birth to Sprinter in fall of 2007, fathered by Victor. Young Sprinter stayed in Ouwehands for three years, so he was present in Ouwehands when Huggies gave birth to her next set of twins, Walker and Swimmer, in 2008. Sprinter is now in Hannover Germany.

Huggies' son Walker (on the right),
 in Highland Wildlife Park,
with his friend Arktos.

Twins Walker and Swimmer were born in December of 2008. Walker and Swimmer were famous from the start, for their birth was filmed and featured in the David Attenborough BBC television series, "Frozen Planet,"  as it would be impossible to film such a birth in the wild. Walker and little twin brother Swimmer (both named after Kimberly Clark diapers, the rescue sponsor of their mother Huggies) made their public debut in March, and tiny Swimmer captured many hearts, for he was about one third the size of his brother, quite lively and scampering about. About a week later, poor Swimmer died during a swimming lesson, as some inborn weakness caused something to burst. Huggies and Walker were seen grieving for hours. It happened on a Sunday, with many families there to see the new twins, families who witnessed the tragedy and the great sadness of a mother crying over her tiny lost child, with bewildered young Walker there, grieving as well.  Walker now lives in Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland.

By summer of 2010, it was just Victor, Huggies and Freedom at Ouwehands. 

Huggies' granddaughter Sesi in Mulhouse Zoo in France,
 with first child Nanook, now in Munich.
Sesi has had another since then, Kara is now in Sweden. 

But then in November, 2010 Freedom gave birth to Sesi and Siku (later Taiko).  The next year it was Huggies' turn.

Lynn, now in the Copenhagen Zoo.

In December 2011 Huggies had twins, Lynn and Luka. At this point, the two moms, mother and daughter, were dealing with four cubs, Sesi and Siku (later Taiko), and Lynn and Luka, between them, and it seemed to work to raise them together in the large enclosure with that wonderful deep pool. These were amazing days, with Freedom and her older cubs, and Huggies and her younger cubs, splashing and playing for the visitors and on the Explore webcam broadcast around the world.  Two moms and four cubs all living together.

Luka in Wuppertal. He now lives in Yorkshire.

Eventually, these four cubs grew up and went  their separate ways. Sesi moved to Mulhouse in France and Siku became Taiko and went to LaFleche in France. Lynn moved to Vienna and then to Copenhagen.  Luka went to Wuppertal in Germany. He's now in YWP.

In August of 2014, Victor retired to YWP in Doncaster in the UK but not before adding to his legacy. In November 2014, a few months after Victor left, Akiak and Sura were born to Freedom.

Akiak and Sura, born to Freedom.

Once again, Ouwehands Zoo decided to mix the generations. They determined that the twins should meet their Grandmother Huggies in May of 2015, so Freedom and her kids went through some tense times. The several generations tried to meld, as they did previously when Huggies and Freedom raised their children together.  I was there to witness the attempted meetings.

Huggies keeps her distance from Freedom and the cubs.

Cubs Akiak and Sura don't trust the stranger,
 who is actually their grandmother Huggies.

There were days of confrontations, as the young cubs hid behind their mother, afraid of this older polar bear coming into their territory. The was a lot of huffing and chuffing going on.

It's okay kids, it's just grandma.

Huggies went about her business,
while Freedom and cubs kept an eye on her.

The apprehensive cubs stayed near their mother
 for protection from the "stranger."

                                     One brave cub tries getting a little

                                                 closer to Grandma.

Eventually, harmony returned, and Grandma Huggies, Mother Freedom and young twins Akiak and Sura learned to live together as a family. 

Huggies' grandson Akiak in Rostock

Akiak grew up and moved on to Rostock, where he fathered a set of twins, Kaja and Skadi, with Sizzel, and now lives in France. But Sister Sura remained in Ouwehands. 

Felix did not work out well with Huggies.
He was too enthusiastic.

A handsome long legged male bear named Felix came to visit in late 2015. He was already the father of the Famous Flocke, of Milak and the late Augo of Aalborg, of Gregor and Aleut and Charlotte of Nuremberg.  Previously, Felix had a reputation for being gentle, a real gentleman with the ladies. But in Ouwehands, he became over-zealous in his pursuit of  Huggies. Freedom was still grouped with her young twins. It was an uncomfortable situation. Felix left in July for another zoo in the Netherlands, and there were no cubs from that visit. 

Wolodja in the old enclosure at Ouwehands.

More success came a few years later. A Russian bear named Wolodja came from Tierpark Berlin in the Spring of 2019, just for the breeding season before moving on to Rotterdam. The result of that visit was another set of twins for Freedom, a girl named Yura and a boy named Yuka. 

Huggies finds joy in a flower

The zoo again tried to integrate the different generations of bears. Wolodja was gone, so it was just Grandma Huggies, older and much bigger sister Sura, Freedom and her twins. 

Tragic history repeated itself on that sad day, June 11, 2020, when young Yura, only 7 months old, was the object of rough play in the pool by her older sister Sura, who had no idea how fragile cubs can be since Sura had never been a mother herself.

Seven month old Yura died of internal bleeding from the playfight in the water with the much larger Sura.

The pool, where cubs played, but also a place of tragedy.

It was Deja Vu for Huggies, as she pulled her granddaughter from the pool, and sat in the same spot where she had mourned Swimmer years earlier, to mourn another tragically lost cub, sweet Yura, her granddaughter. 

A report from the zoo:

“Mother Freedom and her two cubs Yura and Yuka had been living with Grandma Huggies (Freedom’s mother) and Sura for several weeks. Sura is five years old and weighs almost 300 kg. In our extensive experience with breeding polar bears, we’ve had similar combinations of older and younger animals and it was never a problem.  Sura and the cub played together regularly, always under the watchful eye of their mother and grandma.

“Once all the polar bears were together, Mother Freedom protected her cub more intensively than before. We didn’t know she was like that. In retrospect, this was already a sign something was wrong. However, when Sura started playing roughly with the much smaller Yura (65 kg) – we don’t think it was a deliberate attack – Mother Freedom stayed on the side-lines. She no longer defended her cub.

“We believe the autopsy results explain this behaviour. It shows that Yura had been suffering from a respiratory infection, but that she didn’t yet appear to have had any symptoms. Based on Mother Freedom’s behaviour, we suspect that she “knew”. It’s common knowledge that mothers sometimes don’t take care of newborn cubs if they know something is wrong. In this case, Freedom let “nature” run its course.”

It is my belief, however, that since Sura had never been a mother, she played too roughly with her baby sister, not realizing how much smaller and more vulnerable Yura was. Huggies, having been a mother, had a protective attitude toward Freedom's cubs, something Sura had never learned. She only knew how to play.

In fact, I think Huggies was more on the alert that day for trouble than Freedom was, but just did not get there in time to save Yura. 

Brother Yuka, now six years old, is still in Ouwehands, along with big sister Sura, now 11 years old, and mother Freedom. 

Huggies

Time for a nap. 

 

Huggies swims in the old enclosure, and Freedom watches from a distance.

A life that started with a dramatic rescue, Huggies grew up with a brown bear companion who was still her neighbor, then traveled to the far north. She returned with her infant daughter, took care of a growing family, endured heartache and tragedy, but also knew joy and friendship. People came from all over the world to meet her. She even had a starring role in a groundbreaking David Attenborough documentary. Throughout most of her life, she had her daughter Freedom by her side, and her other children and grandchildren scattered throughout Europe and even Canada. Quite a legacy for a little orphaned bear rescued from an ice floe.