Surprise! A cub in Toledo

Crystal with cub Hope, who is now three years old

The Toledo Zoo has finally announced that Crystal gave birth to a cub on December 9, 2018. The cub, gender still unknown, is now two months old. Mother and cub are bonding behind the scenes, and probably won't be seen by the public until April or May.

Crystal was born in Belgium in 1998. Her sister Blanche still lives there.

The father of the new cub, Marty, was born in Brookfield Zoo in Chicago in 1996, son of Aussie and Arki.

Crystal and Marty are the parents or grandparents of most of the cubs in the U.S. under the age of ten.

Twin sisters Aurora and Anana were born in November of 2006. Aurora is the mother of Nora, now in Salt Lake City; Nuniq, now in Madison Wisconsin; and Neva in the Maryland Zoo. Anana is the mother of Amelia Gray, now also in Maryland.

Crystal with cub Siku

Siku was born in December of 2009, and now lives in Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Crystal with Suka and Sakari as cubs

Twins Suka and Sakari were born in December of 2012. Suka is now in Detroit, and Sakari is Buffalo.

Crystal with Hope as a cub

Hope was born in December, 2015,  and now lives in Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City with her niece Nora.

Dad Marty is also the father of Nikita, with Nan as the mother. Nikita was also born in 2006 and now lives in the North Carolina Zoo.

The only U.S. polar bears under the age of 10 who are not descended from Crystal and Marty are Cincinnati Anana and Nuniq's daughter Luna born in the Buffalo Zoo, and wildborn Kali, now in the St. Louis Zoo, and Qannik, now in the Louisville Zoo. 

Marty

Indoor mother cub area has a shallow pool. This is Crystal and Suka. This roofless enclosure is where Crystal and her cub will spend time in the next few months, while the baby gets stronger and learns to swim.

Private mother cub enclosure. The pool is shallow. There is no roof, so plenty of sunshine.

The den is just off the mother-cub enclosure, behind a door such as this.