Two boys

It is a lean year for polar bear cubs, only two born and surviving in zoos worldwide. Welcome to one little boy in Novosibirsk Russia, and to another little boy in Akita Japan. 

Momo's cub - photo from Oga Aquarium, Akita Japan

Momo and Gota became parents on December 4 in Oga Aquarium in Japan, to twins. One passed away in the first days, but the second twin was a strong little boy and survived.  Just announced, his name is Momota, a combination of his parents' names. 

Gerda's boy - photo by Novosibirsk News

Gerda and Kai's cub, born on December 7 in the Novosibirsk Zoo in Siberia,  remained a secret for many months, although many suspected because there was "police tape" around Gerda's enclosure to keep things calm and quiet. The cub is another boy. His name has been announced as "Umka."

Fewer cubs worldwide in zoos this year

No cubs were born in the USA this year, and also none in European zoos.  Last year, eight zoo cubs were born worldwide, including three in Japan, and one in Europe. None in the USA for the past three seasons, not since Crystal had her twins Kallik and Kallu in Toledo in 2022.

The chart below was posted in the Gelsenkirchen Zoo in Germany ten years ago, to show just how many cubs are usually born, and how many survive. The white blocks are those surviving, and the black blocks are those who are born but did not live. In general, in zoos and in the wild, the survival rate of cubs is about 50 percent, for they are born so unfinished, something that seems to be necessary for life in the Arctic. Only the most robust survive.

The zoo population of polar bears is coordinated and regulated carefully, to ensure that cubs born will have a zoo to go to when they grow up.

For the past few years, the European coordinators have moved many bears to just boys or just girls groups, so that we won't have more cubs than we can handle. Only a few breeding couples are approved.

Last year, there were eight cubs born in zoos worldwide.

Only one cub was born and survived in Europe, that of Nuka and Kap in Karlsruhe. It was twins, but only one lived and that would be Mika, a boy. And none in Europe this year.

Last year, in addition to Mika born in Karlsruhe, there was one girl cub (Nur) born in Sao Paulo Brazil, twin boys (Jorek and Ootek) born in Sosto Hungary, a girl cub named Parma born in Perm Russia, and three born in Japan. The Japanese cubs last year are a boy Rai, and Paula's twins Sora and Umi, a boy and a girl.   

While Europe is carefully controlling its population, the USA zoos are in a drought for cubs. For various reasons, the few fertile females we have are not giving birth. Belgium born Crystal in Toledo, who has produced so many of our current younger generation, is now too old to be expected to make any more babies. Two of her daughters, Suka in Detroit and Aurora in Columbus, have had cubs and very likely will again.

 

Gerda's cub - photo by Novosibirsk News

Momo and Gota's cub - Photo by Hasumi Nobuo

Momota in Japan - his family tree

Momo and Gota's club was born in Oga Aquarium in northern Japan on December 4. 

Mother Momo (Peach) was born in Osaka in 2014 to beloved bears Baffin and Gogo, both of whom have just passed away in recent months.  

Some American bears are cousins of Baffin, having descended from Baffin's sister Chinook. Baffin was born in Sweden in 1991 to American born mother CW, and father Imarec. CW, born in Memphis, was daughter of Bruno, who was also father of Chinook of Hogle Zoo. Chinook was mother of Rochester Aurora, Denali of Japan, Berlin's mate Bubba, Buffalo/ Cincinnati/Detroit Anana, and twins Kiska and Koluk of ABQ Biopark. The next generation includes Luna, Lee, NC Anana, Haley and Anoki.

Many European bears are also related to Momota, bears descended from CW, including CW's granddaughter Freedom and all her cubs, CW's daughter Ilka of Skandinavisk Dyrepark and her cubs, and CW's son Manasse of Finland, father of Ranzo of Vienna and Sisu of YWP.

Gogo was a most beloved bear, famed for his silly antics and big personality. It was especially tragic that he died under anesthetic for transport, so he could breed yet again.  Gogo was born in Perm in 2004, to Anderma and Yukon. His brother Permjak was the father of Pim, who is the father of Nur in Sao Paolo last year, and also Milka, the mother of Parma in Perm Zoo last year. 

In addition to Momo, Gogo was also the father of two children in Japan with Shilka: daughter Hochan in 2020 and son Rai last year. 

Momoto's grandparents Gogo died February 8, 2026 and Baffin died on March 20, 2026. 

Baby Momota's father Gota was born in 2003 in Moscow to Murma and Untai. In 2020 he became father of Fubuki with the mother being Yuki. 

Gota is brother of the famous Raspi, who is now in Hamburg. Raspi is the father of the late Hope, and also Flocke's triplets Indie, Yuma and Tala, now in UK wildlife parks. Gota's brother Kap, father of Anouk of Hamburg and Mika of Karlsruhe, recently died. Gota is also brother of Boris (Ivan) of Copenhagen and Skandinavisk Dyrepark, where he is the father of Nuna's twins.  

Gerda and her cub - photo by Sergie Iltyakov

Gerda's cub Umka - family tree

Gerda and Kai's cub Umka, born in Novosibirsk Zoo, is their seventh cub, after Shilka (in Japan), Rostik (somewhere in China), twins Shauna and Nordi,  and twins Belka and Strelka. Shauna has moved to Izhversk Zoo in Russia. Belka, Strelka and Nordi are still in Novosibirsk.

Gerda was born in Moscow in 2007 to Simona and Wrangel. 

She is the granddaughter of the famous Uslada and Menshikov, who produced 16 cubs altogether. Uslada's daughter Simona, who is still alive, produced 13 cubs. With so many polar bears related to Gerda and Kai, their genes are well represented both in Russia and in Europe, and while we are happy about a new cub, his bloodline does not add much to the gene pool. It is a shame that we cannot bring some of these polar bears to US zoos, where we could use such genes.   

Father Kai (Krassin) was born in St. Petersburg in 2007 to Uslada and Menshikov. So Kai is Gerda's uncle.

Gerda and her cub - photo by Arkady  Laptenko

Thank you to the photographers whose photos I have borrowed for this story.  I wish I could be there myself. 

The polar bear cubs of 2018-19

Frimas with her daughters Elva and Nivi

This past season, there were nine polar bear cubs born and surviving in zoos around the world, of which we are aware. (There are polar bears in zoos in China and there may have been cubs but we haven't heard.)

Here is a rundown of the cubs

U.S. - Borealis (Bo)
Netherlands - twins Elva and Nivi
Germany - Hertha
Copenhagen - Imaq
Canada - Kinuk and Shouka (different mothers)
Russia - twins Shauna and Nordi

I did travel to Europe in May and June to see the four European cubs, and to Toledo in August to see Bo.

European cubbies

Nivi and Elva

In the Netherlands, we have a set of twin girls named Nivi and Elva at Dierenrijk in Nuenen. Mother is wildborn Frimas and Father is Henk, who was one of Huggies' and Victor's triplets back in 2005 in Ouwehands. Frimas and Henk had twins (Pixel and Noordje) in 2012 and another set of twin girls (Nicki and Simona) in 2015.

Hertha of Tierpark Berlin

In Tierpark Berlin in Germany, Russian bears Tonja and Wolodja finally had a cub who survived, after two years of heartbreak. Little Hertha, named after the Berlin soccer franchise, was born on December 1, 2018. By the time Hertha was born, Father Wolodja had already moved to the Berlin Zoo, and then to Ouwehands Zoo, and finally to Rotterdam Zoo. 

This is the first surviving cub at Tierpark Berlin in decades. Tonja's first cub Fritz two years ago died at the age of three months. She lost a daughter at nearly  month old last year.

Of course Berlin Zoo had Knut im 2006, but that was a different zoo, although in the same city.

Imaq of Copenhagen Zoo

Lynn and a Russian bear named Nord produced their first cub in the Copenhagen Zoo. Imaq was born December 1, 2018, the first cub born in the Copenhagen Zoo in decades. Lynn is the daughter of Victor and Huggies in Ouwehands Zoo.

Bo of the Toledo Zoo

Canadian cuties

Up North in St. Felicien Zoo in Quebec, two unrelated mother bears gave birth to little boy cubs, with the same father.

Wildborn Aisaqvak gave birth to Kinuk on November 27, 2018. She is an experienced mother, having raised several cubs before.

Milak in Aalborg

Milak, who had been born in Aalborg Zoo in Denmark, gave birth to her first cub, a boy named Shouka December 10, 2018.

I was very happy to hear that Milak was now a mother. I watched her as a tiny newborn on dencam with her mother Victoria, and visited her many times in Aalborg as she was growing up.

The father of both Canadian cubs is Jelle, also one of Huggies and Victor's triplets.

This means that Huggies and Victor are grandparents of FIVE of the nine cubs born in zoos worldwide this year. 

Huggies, who is mother to seven cubs, already grandmother to five, and great grandmother to one, is grandmother to five more cubs this year.

And Victor is also grandfather to five more cubs this year. Victor now lives in Yorkshire Wildlife Park with one of his grandsons, Pixel.

Russian twins

Too far to go to visit, but I have seen some adorable videos and photos of the twins in Novosibirsk. The mom is Gerda, and the father is Krassin. A girl Shauna and a boy Nordi. Click on the link below to see some lovely photos of the twins.

o

Knuti's Weekly story on Shauna and Nordi 

Gerda is an experienced mother, having had several cubs before. Shilka, who now lives in Japan, is much admired by her fans.  Gerda's last cub, Rostik, was sent to China, much to the dismay of those who adore him and want to keep track of him. 

In the U.S. - our one cub this year

Borealis was born at the Toledo Zoo on December 9, 2018. His mother Crystal, who was born in Belgium, and his father Marty, born in Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, have produced seven cubs: twins Aurora and Anana, boy Siku, twins Suka (girl) and Sakari (boy), Hope and now Bo.

Marty is also the father of Nikita in the North Carolina Zoo, with Nan as the mother. 

Twins Aurora and Anana, between them have produced four  cubs - Nora, Amelia Gray, and twins Nuniq (boy) and Nela, all with the late Nanuq for a father.

Thus, of the most recent 13 cubs born in the U.S. zoos, twelve are the children or grandchildren of Marty. The only other cub is six year old Luna, born to Anana in Buffalo, and Luna's father was the late Nanuq. Yes, the same Nanuq who fathered Aurora and Anana's cubs.

We do have two Alaskan orphan cubs in our zoos, but they are property of the Fish and Wildlife Service, which says they cannot be part of the breeding program, so Kali in St. Louis and Qannik in the Louisville Zoo are not eligible to contribute their genes.

Qannik of the Louisville Zoo

Kali of the St. Louis Zoo

Polar bears are born very unfinished, and sadly, their mortality rate in the wild and in zoos is about fifty percent. The cubs are often stillborn, or live only a few days. Quite often there are twins, or even triplets rarely, and only one might survive. Or none.  These nine cubs from this year are the ones we know of, those who survived.


Here is an interesting graphic posted at the Gelsenkirchen Zoom in Germany. It shows the number of cubs born in zoos, and those who actually survived. For example, in 2016, there were twenty cubs born, and twelve survived.

The last part of the German explanation says that only five cubs
 were born in 2017 and survived their first month,  including Nanook at the Gelsenkirchen Zoo,  making her rare indeed.

Baby Hertha and Mother Tonja in Tierpark Berlin

The females most likely to give birth any given season are those who have given birth in the past. Once they start having cubs, they often continue to produce little polar bears. The more years a female doesn't get pregnant, the less likely it will ever happen. 

Mother polar bears, like Tonja here, use toys, food and everyday situations to teach and train their cubs for survival skills.

 Hertha really wants that strap toy. 

There are a small number of female bears in the U.S. who were given birth control back in the early 2000's and it seems that it became permanent. 

In Toledo, young Bo plays with his mother Crystal in the salt water pool.

A very unhelpful law which was passed in the U.S., maybe around 2012, does not permit bears to be brought into this country, and that includes polar bears for zoos, so there cannot be anymore trading around of polar bears until this law is repealed.

Thus the cubs that are being born in the U.S. are mostly from the same family, which will create problems down the road in finding unrelated mates for them.
Looking ahead to the next year in the U.S.


In the U.S. we only had one cub this year, precious Bo. What can we look forward to this fall?

Hopes are also high that Detroit will have a cub, as young Suka delivered this past year, but the cubs did not survive. 

This coming year, maybe Cincinnati Anana will again give birth, this time to a cub fathered by Little One, whose genes are not represented anywhere else. Since this Anana has given birth to a cub before, she has a better chance than most of the female bears.

Twin sisters Aurora and Anana in Columbus have enjoyed the company of Lee this year, and since both have raised cubs, there are good chances there too.

Nan at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, who is living with Marty's brother Hudson, is also a one time mother, who may give birth this year.

Cub are born usually in November and December, so it is almost time!