Haley moves to Detroit Zoo

 

Haley in 2012 in Memphis

22 year old Haley has made the move from the Memphis Zoo, where she lived with Koda, to the Detroit Zoo, where she will live with Crystal's daughter Suka, and Koda's twin brother Nuka, in hopes that she will finally have cubs.

Haley in Memphis, 2012.

Haley was born November 15, 2002, in Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester NY. Her parents were Aurora, born in Salt Lake City to Cheechacko and Chinook, and Yukon, who was born to Connie/Amy and Icee in the Cincinnati Zoo. 

Haley in Memphis

Haley is sister to Anoki, born in 1996 and now in the Seneca Park Zoo, and to twins Lee and Anana, born in 1999. Lee is now in the Columbus Zoo, and is the father of Kulu, with Crystal's daughter Aurora; Kulu is now in the Como Zoo in St. Paul. Anana is in the North Carolina Zoo. Like her sisters, she has never had cubs.

Haley had lived with Marty's brother Payton in the Memphis Zoo for many years, but there was an incident early on where Payton was chasing Haley up and down the steep rocky habitat. She fell and broke her leg, and after a period of healing, the keepers continued to limit contact between the two bears, for fear of a repeat.

Payton was moved to North Carolina, where he became companion to Haley's sister Anana (Lee's twin), but no cubs ever came of this pairing.

Haley's mother Aurora was sister to the famous Denali, father of 8 cubs in Japan). She was also half sister to Anana (a different Anana, who comes up later in our story), the late Koluk and his twin brother Kiska, who lives in Albuquerque.

Nuka in Detroit

Twin brothers Nuka and Koda were born November 25, 2004 in Denver to mother Voda and father Kavek. Nuka and Koda's older sister Cranbearry was born in 2001, and now lives in the Alaska Zoo. Kavek was brother of Rizzo of the Cincinnati and Hogle Zoos.

Koda and Nuka moved to Pittsburgh in 2006. Koda lived most of his life in Pittsburgh, where his sometimes companion was his Aunt Snowflake.  Koda moved to Memphis in 2021. Nuka moved to Detroit in 2011, where his mate was Talini. No cubs happened, so Talini moved to Chicago LP, and Crystal's young daughter Suka came to Detroit. 

Nuka on the Tundra side, Suka and Astra on the meadow side.

In Detroit, Suka had several pregnancies where the cubs did not survive. Then in 2020, she gave birth to Astra and Laerke. Astra was strong, but newborn Laerke was struggling, so after a few days, she was removed and raised by keepers. 

Twin sisters Astra and Laerke, separated during their first two years.

Astra was a strong healthy cub, but Laerke was small and struggled sometimes. The Detroit Zoo brought in a rescued grizzly cub from Alaska to help Laerke socialize and learn to be a bear. They made for an odd couple, but both cubs were happy with the arrangement. 

Jebbie and Laerke in a friendly bear hug.

Eventually Jebbie grew too large for the pair to safely continue. He found a good home at a bear sanctuary in Colorado.

The girls were reunited several years later, and moved to Tacoma Washington, where they continue to do well.

Nuka

Nuka's life as a soap opera

Although he is a bear, some of us polar bear fans have joked that Nuka's life has followed the plots of many human soap operas, from being the father of twins separated at birth, to being accused of murder and then exonerated, to having families with both mother and daughter, and now, stealing his twin brother's mate. Okay, that's enough anthropomorphizing!

The real story

After Suka gave birth to the twin girls Astra and Laerke, who were separated shortly after birth, a lady bear named Anana moved to Detroit from the Cincinnati Zoo, and there were hopes of a successful breeding. What followed was a tragedy, followed by unfair accusations and rumors.

Sadly, Anana was found dead on the Tundra area one wintry morning, and initial suspicions suggested that Nuka was responsible, in breeding gone wrong. There were some bloody wounds on her head. This was a shocking thought, especially since Nuka had always been a very gentle bear and the two bears got along well. Months later, the necropsy showed that Anana had died of natural causes, heart failure. The superficial wounds on her head were caused by Nuka trying to wake her up, to get her to move, alas in vain. The true cause of death was not publicized except in an email necropsy report to Zoo members (which I had access to), so many people went on to blame Nuka for years. 

As the soap opera continued, the Toledo Zoo, only an hour's drive away from Detroit, had lost Marty, the father of all of Crystal's cubs, to old age. So Crystal, Suka's mother, was alone. As mother of seven, Crystal was thought to be still fertile, even though she was up in years. So Nuka was invited to come to Toledo to spend romantic time with -- yes, basically his mother-in-law -- while Suka raised Astra, and the keepers took care of Laerke in the neighboring city of Detroit.

There was worry from the Toledo Zoo fans and maybe even the staff, about Nuka and the safety of Crystal, given the false story about Anana. This blog seemed to be the only news source in the world with the correct story, so the Toledo Blade newspaper contacted me, and printed the true story exonerating Nuka, the two bears were introduced, and all was well.

Nuka and Crystal got along well, and that fall, twins Kallik and Kallu were born. Nuka returned to Suka in Detroit.

Birthday party for 2 year old Kallu and Kallik and 26 year old Crystal

The Detroit Zoo was hoping that Suka and Nuka would have cubs this past fall, but there was noisy construction nearby, and maybe that disturbed the natural cycle. In any case, there were no cubs born in a US zoo last year, or the year before.

This is why Haley was moved to Detroit. All of the polar bears  in the US under the age of 10 are offspring or grandchildren of Crystal, except for rescued youngster Kava in the Alaska Zoo. In fact the last cub born in the US that wasn't a direct descendent of Crystal was Anana's daughter Luna born in 2012, the same Anana who tragically died in Detroit. 

Aurora and Yukon of Seneca Park were parents of four cubs, but only one has become a parent: Lee, father of Kulu in the Columbus Zoo. And now there is new hope that the next generation will continue with Haley's latest move to Detroit.

It is rather late in the breeding season for the two bears to be introduced, but I am sure the keepers will do what they can. 22 years of age is quite old for a first time birth for a polar bear, but fingers are crossed. 

The only living male polar bears who have fathered cubs in the US are Nuka and Haley's brother Lee. Next spring we may see cubs in Detroit, Columbus, and maybe even in Toledo, where wildborn Kali has just arrived for Crystal's approval.