Farewell to Payton

 

Payton in Memphis in 2012.

We heard today of the sudden passing of Payton, son of Arki and Aussie. He had been living in the North Carolina Zoo with Aurora and Yukon's daughter Anana since January of 2021. He died two hours into a transport to the Louisville Zoo yesterday, October 25. 

Payton in 2012

He would have been 20 years old on November 8. Payton was named for NFL running back Walter Payton. 

Payton

I visited him in October of 2012, when he was living in Memphis with Haley. He had moved to the Memphis Zoo with Aurora and Yukon's daughter Haley, who had come to Chicago from the Seneca Park Zoo in New York to get to know him. The two moved together from the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago in January of 2006. There were never any offspring from these two.

Payton with the kids

Arki and Aussie were the parents of five cubs. Marty, who was born in 1996, moved to Toledo and went on to father many cubs there, all but one with Crystal. Marty died in Toledo in 2021. Arki and Aussi's daughter Tiguak, who was hand raised, went to Canada and died in 2011 while undergoing a procedure under anesthetic.  Kinepak, born in 2000, died in Buffalo in 2007. Payton was born in 2003 and Hudson, the only offspring still alive, was born in 2006 in Brookfield. 

Payton was well loved in Memphis, and also in North Carolina, a cooperative and laid back bear who always had a good relationship with his keepers.

Payton was a playful boy.

I only visited him once, but noticed he had the same kind of dance as his mother Arki, only in the water. He seemed to enjoy interacting with the youngsters who visited him.

Payton interacting with the visitors in Memphis

Payton did the reverse dance, like his mom Arki.

Payton loved to see the kids at the window

Payton at the window in Memphis

Payton

This leaves only 39 polar bears in US zoos, and there is a law preventing the import of polar bears from outside the US.

Payton

Payton was destined for the Louisville Zoo, where wildborn Qannik lives, but she is property of Fish and Wildlife, and cannot be part of the breeding program.

Farewell, Payton. You were such a good bear.

Arctic Sea Ice Day at the Louisville Zoo

 

Qannik enjoys the misting fan.

Qannik and her tub of ice.

Lee roamed the large enclosure, munching on grass.

Arctic Sea Ice Day, held every year on July 15, was created by Polar Bears International to bring attention to the crisis of accelerating loss of Arctic sea ice.

Lee

Many zoos, including the Louisville Zoo, use the occasion to educate the public about the need for sea ice in cooling the planet, why it is important for arctic wildlife, and steps we can take to help the environment, such as turning the lights off, setting the thermostat higher in summer and lower in winter, and diving more efficient vehicles.

A sign made by a student urges people to purchase food grown locally, to reduce your carbon footprint. Other signs suggested turning lights off when you leave the room, and other tips for saving energy.

It is a day when visitors to the Louisville Zoo can most likely see both polar bears who live there. During the rest of the year, the two polar bears in Louisville are rotated through two exhibit areas, taking turns with three grizzly bears, so there are times when you won't see a polar bear at all. But on Arctic Sea Ice Day, the spotlight is on the polar bears, so it is a great opportunity to see both Lee and Qannik.

My polar bear friend Debbie takes a photo of "wild child" Qannik.

Qannik was in Polar Bear Alley, cooling off in a spot in the center where a strategically placed fan blew a refreshing mist down from the ceiling, She loved it. There was also big tub of ice for her playtime enjoyment.

A chunk of token "sea ice" for Qannik.

Some chunks of ice that the keepers had frozen in pails were distributed throughout in both enclosures.

Qannik was roaming around in Polar Bear Alley. The entire polar bear area is called Glacier Run, set up to look like a gold mining camp on the edge of the Arctic wilderness, with seals and sea lions nearby. 

Qannik was born in a den in an Alaskan oil field in January of 2011. She got separated from her mother and sister in a blizzard, and was rescued as an underweight 15 pound cub, recovered at the Alaska Zoo, and came to Louisville in late June of 2011. She remains property of Fish and Wildlife so is not allowed to be part of the breeding program.

Qannik sits in the center of Polar Bear Alley,
where a highly placed fan is blowing a cooling mist down upon her..

Qannik currently weighs 505 pounds.

That fan feels good.
 She can also go downstairs to her air conditioned bedroom.

Polar Bear Alley, with Qannik at the center.
The larger pool area, where Lee was spending the morning,
 is just across the way.

The male polar bear at the Louisville Zoo is Lee, who was born in Rochester NY in 1999, and has lived in Lincoln Park in Chicago, Detroit, Denver, and most recently in Columbus where he fathered 2 year old Kulu (currently in Como Zoo in Minnesota). Lee came to Louisville in late 2020.

Handsome Lee in Louisville.

Lee weighs in at 1040 pounds right now.

Lee was just swimming around, keeping cool and finding snacks.

  The docents at the Louisville Zoo invited curious visitors to touch a polar bear claw to feel the coarse hollow hairs of a bear. 

A Louisville Zoo docent shows off the model of a polar bear skull, pointing out the space behind the fangs. 

Visitors could also examin a resin model of a polar bear skull, and see how the open jaws have a space that is just the right size for a seal head, to grab and hold it.

Arki's paw print

There is also a cast taken from former Louisville Zoo resident Arki's paw, to show how the wide pads help support a polar bear walking on ice and snow, like a snowshoe. Arki, mother of Hudson, Payton, and the late Marty, lived most of her life in Brookfield Zoo, and retired to Louisville in 2011. She died in 2013. She was the grandmother or great grandmother of nearly all the younger polar bears we have in the USA.

A zoo docent shows a polar bear claw with fur to a visitor.
 The educators explained the importance of Arctic Sea Ice, and how polar bears depend upon it to survive.
 The Arctic Sea Ice forms later every year, and melts earlier,
 giving the polar bears less time to find the food they need.

The Arctic is now warming at three times the rate as the rest of the planet, causing changes to this crucial environment.

Sea ice is the foundation for the ecosystem of marine life, the food chain that includes plankton, fish, seals, beluga whales, walrus, polar bears and everything in between. 

Polar bears hunt mainly on the ice, especially ringed seals and bearded seals. Without the ice, there will be fewer seals. And the polar bears are not agile enough to catch their dinner in the water. With less food for the polar bears, there will be fewer cubs. The loss of sea ice is devastating to the polar bear population.

The loss of sea ice also drives the polar bears to human communities, where they rummage through the garbage and  roam the streets in search of food, bringing the bears into conflict with humans. It is dangerous for the bears and the humans.

Since the Arctic, which serves as the "air conditioner" for the rest of the planet, is warming and losing sea ice, we are now seeing temperatures rise for the rest of us as well, with drought, wildfires, stronger storms and flooding as a result. Currently, parts of the US and Europe are suffering through deadly heatwaves and devastating wildfires. 

Lee imitates and iceberg, under a See Ice Day sign.

Lee captures retrieves some lettuce.
Yes, polar bears like fruits and vegetables.

Kulu is one big little guy

Kulu

For polar bear fans, 2020 has been a disappointing year so far with zoo trips out of the question for so many months, and Europe not even a possibility. With so many cubs to potentially visit in Europe, and even Flocke's triplets in France, sadly all travel plans had ground to a halt. I hadn't been to a zoo since Qannik's birthday party in Louisville in January.

But there is one cub I have really been looking forward to meeting, and he is very close by. Kulu is the only cub in the United States, well, really the only cub in this hemisphere, in a zoo setting anyway.

Kulu and Aurora on the big rock

When would I get my chance to finally meet this little guy, who was born Thanksgiving Day in 2019?

Kulu's father Lee

I had gone up to Columbus in November of 2019, it seems so long ago, to see Lee, father of the cub.

By the time Kulu was six months old, the Columbus Zoo had been closed for three months. Kulu had gotten used to the outside area with no one to watch him but his mother and the keepers. The zoo finally announced they would open on June 12. I got my timed ticket for 10 a.m. on Friday, June 19. I would finally get to meet Kulu. 

I was disappointed that, although the zoo had told the public that masks were highly recommended, about 90 percent of the people were not wearing a mask or keeping their distance.  The zoo was keeping the attendance fairly low, and I had a KN-95 mask, so I felt fairly safe, but it still made me wary, and it was harder to get photos with so many people crowding to see darling Kulu.

Kulu bites his paw

Swimming Kulu 

Kulu with his Blue Ball 

Blue Bucket

Kulu 

Kulu watches everything

Kulu balancing on the logs

Kulu isn't a cute little tiny cub anymore. Well, he is still cute, but he's a roly poly strong little guy weighting 180 pounds (about 82 Kg) at not quite seven months of age.

Kulu is growing every day. He is such a big boy

He followed his mom Aurora around for awhile. Sometimes they would disappear into the private area on the left, and I think Aurora prefers to feed her cub without an audience.

Mother Aurora on the big rock pillar

When Mother Aurora decided to climb onto the big stone pillar over the diving pool for a nap, Kulu went off on his own, being very confident and independent. He played with his toys, especially a small red plastic carton. He also likes his blue ball, his red top, and his red block. I imagine his keepers change his toys out frequently to keep him amused.

Kulu chews

Kulu likes the smell ports under the stone pillar and the wooden dock too. The keepers can disperse interesting perfumes and other smells there to keep him interested.

Kulu at one of smell ports, wearing some seaweed

The cub also keeps an eye on the live trout. His mother is trying to teach him to catch the fish, and he dives in to try, but so far, has not been successful. Still, he tries.

There's Mother Aurora, and maybe a fish?

Looking for his red toy or a fish?

Splash! Kulu isn't so good at diving yet.

Trying for another fish.  And trying to improve his diving form.

He is not an adept diver. He usually just falls headfirst into the pool, but he does love swimming around, trying to catch the elusive fish. 

Mother Aurora strolls as Kulu plays

As Kulu plays, he keeps an eye on his mom, just checking to see that she is still there. Aurora is always aware of where her little cub is, even when she is napping.

Kulu

Going for the Blue Ball

Kulu trying to pay equal attention to all his toys

Kulu loves to swim, spending most of his time in the water

Aurora is an experienced mother. She gave birth to her first cub Nora in 2015, a cub who was raised by keepers and went to another zoo before she was one year old. Nora is now at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City with her Aunt Hope, Aurora's little sister of the same age as Nora. 

In 2016, Aurora gave birth to twins, Neva and Nuniq, and her twin sister had Amelia Gray. The twin sisters and their families alternated days in the public viewing area, and elderly Daddy Nanuq came out at night. This time Aurora took great care of her cubs.

After old Nanuq passed away, and Neva and Amelia Gray moved to Maryland and young Nuniq moved to Madison Wisconsin, a new male bear arrived in Columbus to be a companion for twins Anana and Aurora. Lee was born in 1999 the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester NY. Lee's mother was Aurora, and his father was the late Yukon, twin brother of Berlin, born in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1989. Lee had moved around a bit, had been in Lincoln Park, Milwaukee, Detroit and Denver, and had never fathered any cubs before Kulu. His genes are especially valuable as his sisters Anoki and Hayley, and twin sister Anana (of North Carolina) have not produced cubs. He is a descendant of Olaf and Olga, through Shep. He is also descended from Bruno of the Memphis Zoo, so is related to many of the European polar bears.

The Columbus Zoo currently alternates having Aurora and her cub Kulu in the public exhibit on one day, and Lee and Anana on the next day. The schedule is subject to change. The pair not on public view has a spacious hidden enclosure with pool.

Kulu keeping his eye on everything

He is a curious cub

Kulu has a secret sheltered area under the big rock pillar where he can hide
and still watching everything, including his mom up top.

Little Kulu asks his mom to wake up
 and come into the water to play

A little wet after a dip in the pool. Shaking it off.

Aurora's grandma Arki (her father Marty's mother) loved lettuce sandwiches, and it seems that Aurora does too. Aurora gobbled down the bread and the Romaine lettuce. Kulu had some too. 

Aurora has some bread thrown into the water

Romaine Lettuce, a favorite

Like her late Grandma Arki, Aurora likes lettuce

Kulu wants some too

Kulu steals a few leaves

Yes, she loves her lettuce

Kulu loves his mom

Lettuce is good for a mask, too. We are supposed to wear masks.

It was such a treat to see Kulu and his playful antics. Mother Aurora was fun too. She loves to play and can be a silly girl.

The Columbus Zoo has a docent stationed in the polar bear viewing area, so I was glad to have someone to answer my questions.  I hope to get back to Columbus soon to see just how much Kulu has grown. He's the only cub I can go see for the time being, so he had better get used to my visits. 

Bye for now, Kulu