Astra arrives

 

Astra at Como Zoo

Visitors to Como Zoo in St. Paul Minnesota can now see four polar bears cavorting, swimming, wrestling, wandering and sleeping, with the arrival of young Astra, who just came from the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma Washington.

Astra makes herself at home at Como in the big pool. 

Kulu, on my most recent visit in July.

Five year old female Astra is being paired with six year old male Kulu, so there is quite a bit of playing and splashing going on.

I sent my St. Paul daughter Corinna to take some photos at the Como Zoo and tell me about how things are going between Astra and Kulu. Most of these are her photos.

Kulu and Astra get acquainted

 Kulu and Astra have the right hand side of the habitat, which has the deeper pool, and the older pair Nan and Neil have the other side with the big meadow and shallower pool. The keepers will slowly introduce Astra to the older bears.

Old folks Nan and Neil on the left hand side enclosure.

Kulu and Astra are enjoying getting to know each other, poolside.

                                             Yes, Kulu really likes Astra.

The keepers say that Kulu and Astra get along well, which bodes well for future cubs from the pair. 

Astra gathering her stuff

All mine!

Astra has a lot of fun with this simple plastic bottle.

Astra with her water toys. She loves that bottle, but they also have a giant pickle. And she also enjoys the baby pools as toys.

 

Astra likes to throw toys into the water, and play with them all at once.

Twin sisters in 2021 in the Detroit Zoo,
Astra in back, Laerke close. There is a ditch between them

Astra was born as a twin in the Detroit Zoo but grew up as a single cub because her sister was failing shortly after birth and had to have special care by the keepers. Their parents are Suka, daughter of Crystal and the late Marty, and Nuka. After several years of seeing each other across a divide, the twins, Astra and Laerke, were finally reunited. 

They were sent together to the Point Defiance Zoo in the spring of 2023, where the girls had a lot of fun playing together and making up for lost time. Laerke is quite a bit smaller than her sister, probably because of medication used to save her life when she was a young cub. She won't mind being alone, since she is quite people oriented, as a hand raised cub. She did have a young grizzly bear cub companion, Jebbie, for quite awhile in the Detroit Zoo, until he grew t00 strong for her. 

Jebbie and Laerke in Detroit

Laerke was happy when her twin sister joined her in Detroit, giving their parents Nuka and Suka the other side of the habitat. The twosome made the move to Tacoma where they lived for a year and a half.

Then last month, Astra was moved to the Como Zoo, while Laerke stayed in Tacoma, at least for now.

On one of the days my daughter visited, Kulu mostly stayed
on shore while Astra ran all about, and swam in the pool. 

 

Kulu yawns.

Here Kulu retrieves a fish. 

A nice fish snack for Kulu

Miss Astra comes along and wants some fish, and
 Kulu lets her have his fish. He is a real gentleman. 

Kulu is the son of Aurora and Lee of the Columbus Zoo. He was born as a single cub on November 28, 2019. His grandparents on his mother's side are Crystal of the Toledo Zoo and the late Marty. His father Lee is the son of Yukon and a different Aurora, who was born in Rochester NY. Kulu's grandfather Yukon was born in the Cincinnati Zoo. 

Kulu's mother Aurora and Astra's mother Suka are sisters, so they are first cousins. But with the small number of polar bears in the US, there is little other choice. Almost all the younger bears are from the same family.

You can tell Astra from Kulu in that Kulu is much larger
 and has shorter fur. Astra is little and is quite fluffy. 

I hope to visit the four bears at Como soon. It's great to see the different generations sharing and interacting.