Mother Olinka at rest now

                                                        Olinka and one of her cubs 

Olinka was a patient mother, and that quality served her well in raising eight cubs. 

Sizzel and Todz, with mother Olinka

At age 28, which is fairly senior age for a lady polar bear, she was diagnosed with an advanced liver tumor, and possibly kidney involvement, while under anesthetic on Tuesday, February 9, and in light of how unwell she had been lately, it was decided to not wake her.

She had lived at Diergaarde Blijdorp in Rotterdam since 2010, where she lived with Eric, father of all her cubs, until his death in 2015. 

Lunchtime in Rotterdam

Olinka was born November 21, 1992 in Cologne, Germany, the daughter of Olga and an American born male named Omaha.

I remember the first polar bears I ever saw, when I used to take my kids to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha Nebraska, many times in 1980-83. At that time, Olaf and Olga had had a cub, named Omaha, born just after my son was born. Omaha grew up and was sent off to Europe. That cub was Olinka's father. Olinka was the only cub he fathered.

Young Olinka and her mother Olga moved to Vienna, where they met Eric. He would father two cubs with Olga, and eight with Olinka.

 There in Vienna, Olinka gave birth to twins Lloyd and Nika in 2000. In 2001, Olinka's mother Olga gave birth to Felix and Nord, so to make room in Vienna, in early 2002, Nika moved to Karlsruhe, and Olinka and young Lloyd moved to Bremerhaven, where Lloyd still lives.

Then back to Vienna, where Lara was born in 2004. Both Olinka and young Lara moved to Gelsenkirchen in 2005,  where they stayed for a year. Then back to Vienna again, leaving Lara in Gelsenkirchen.  Twins Arktos and Nanuq were born in 2007 in Vienna. Then in 2010 Olinka made her final move to Rotterdam, where she gave birth to Vicks at the end of the year. In 2014, Olinka had twins Sizzel and Todz. Shortly afterwards, Eric passed away.

Seven of her eight cubs are alive and well, and have produced eight grandchildren for Olinka.

Lloyd lives in Bremerhaven, and is the father of Lale, Lili, Anna and Elsa. Nika passed away last year in Karlsruhe. Lara still lives in Gelsenkirchen and is the mother of daughter Nanook. Arktos lives in Highlands Wildlife Park and is the father of Wee Hamish. Nanuq lives in Nuremberg. Vicks lives in Mulhouse France and is the father of daughter Nanuq and a brand new cub. Sizzel lives in Rostock, and Todz lives in LeVigen France.

Russian male Wolodja has lived in Rotterdam for the past few years, and now is the only polar bear there. 

Olinka keeping an eye on Todz and Sizzel

Twins Todz and Sizzel, with mom Olinka

Olinka and daughter Sizzel

Olinka and cub

Olinka was a patient mother, here with Sizzel and Todz

It's sad to think that Olinka is gone. She was a loving, attentive mother, happy to play with her cubs, and very affectionate. A beautiful lady. She leaves a lasting legacy in her children and grandchildren.

 There are only a few polar bears of the Olaf and Olga line left in the U.S., in spite of their having seven children. I am happy to know so many of their bloodline lives on in Olinka's cubs all over Europe.

Olinka has now strolled into history. Rest in Peace, sweet lady.

Columbus Twins keep Mom Aurora busy

Nuniq and Neva

 When Aurora gave birth to twin cubs on November 14, 2016, at the Columbus Zoo, her job was just beginning. Now that son Nuniq and daughter Neva are almost 8 months old, they are running from one end of the yard to the other, and then diving into the pool for some splashing fun. Neva is even trying to catch the trout that swim in the deep pool.

Als Aurora am 14. November 2016 Zwillinge geboren hatte, fing der Job im Columbus Zoo gerade erst an. Jetzt, wo der Sohn Nuniq und die Tochter Neva fast 8 Monate alt sind, laufen sie von einem Ende der Anlage zum anderen  Ende und tauchen dann in den Pool um etwas Wasserspaß zu haben. Neva versucht sogar, die Forelle zu fangen, die im tiefen Pool schwimmt.

Aurora joins her cubs in play on the docks

Little Sister Neva gives Brother Nuniq a talking to

Nuniq has the stick. Neva wants it.

Brother- sister quarrel

The battle continues

Meanwhile, Mom Aurora likes to float on her back, peacefully, as she meditates

Aurora has always had a penchant for hats

Aurora still has her playful moments. She has always enjoyed putting things, toys or leaves, on her head to make a "hat." And she floats around on her back. Sometimes she catches the trout swimming by.

Aurora hat noch ihre spielerischen Momente. Sie hat es schon immer genossen, Sachen, Spielzeug oder Blätter auf den Kopf zu setzen, um  sich einen "Hut" zu machen. Und sie treibt  auf dem Rücken schwimmend. Manchmal fängt sie  dabei  auch die Forelle.

Aurora relaxes with some branches

Nuniq is a big boy, at somewhere over 200 pounds. Neva is closer to 150 pounds, but that was a couple of weeks ago. Both are growing fast. It is easy to tell them apart most of the time, for brother is so much bigger, and their faces are very different.

Nuniq ist ein großer Junge, irgendwo um die  200 Pfund. Neva ist nahe an 150 Pfund, aber das war schon vor ein paar Wochen. Beide  Jungtiere wachsen schnell. Es ist leicht, sie die meiste Zeit auseinander zu halten, denn der Bruder ist so viel größer, und ihre Gesichter sind sehr verschieden.

Neva and Nuniq

 Their half-sister Amelia Gray is about 180 pounds, but the three cubs are never together. The zoo rotates the two families. One day it is Anana and her daughter, and the next it is Aurora and the twins. Sadly, the father of all three cubs, Nanuq, died a few months ago from complications from old age. The boy cub was given the name Nuniq in honor of his father, a variation on a traditional name for polar bears.

Ihre Halbschwester Amelia Grey ist etwa 180 Pfund, aber die drei Jungtiere sind nie zusammen. Der Zoo wechselt  die Anlage mit den  beiden Familien. Ein Tag ist es Anana und ihre Tochter, und am  nächsten Tag ist  es dann Aurora und die Zwillinge. Traurig, der Vater aller drei Jungen, Nanuq, starb vor ein paar Monaten wegen Komplikationen wegen des Alters. Das männliche Jungtier erhielt den Namen Nuniq zu Ehren seines Vaters, eine Variation eines traditionellen Namens für Eisbären.

Aurora plays with one of her children

Aurora

Aurora's twin sister Anana, who gave birth a few days before Aurora, just has daughter Amelia Gray to watch, but that means Mom has to be a playmate too. On the other hand, Aurora is primarily watching the two cubs play together. Still, she sometimes joins in the play.

Aurora's Zwillingsschwester Anana, die einige Tage vor Aurora geboren hatte, muss sich nur  um Tochter Amelia Grey kümmern, aber das heißt auch, dass Mama  ebenso ein Spielkamerad sein muss. Auf der anderen Seite beobachtet Aurora vor allem die beiden Jungtiere, die zusammen spielen. Dennoch kommt sie manchmal in das Spiel der beiden hinzu.

Aurora settles down to nurse her cubs

Sometimes the cubs stop for a bit to rest and to nurse, but soon they are at full charge again.


Manchmal stoppen die Jungtiere ein bisschen, um sich auszuruhen und zu pflegen, aber bald sind sie wieder voll aufgeladen.

Mother and children

After lunch, when the kids are off playing, Aurora love to munch on branches

Delicious!

Mom takes it somewhere safe

They have toys, but they seem to like playing with leaves and sticks better. A favorite game is to steal the stick from the other cub, and try to keep it. Click on the link below to see the video:

Video: twins at play

 Neva likes playing with the fish too. She is much better at catching trout than her brother.

Neva findet auch Gefallen mit dem Fisch zu spielen.Und sie ist viel geübter die Forelle zu fangen als ihr Bruder es kann.

Neva dives deep

Looking for trout

Close to the viewing glass

Watching the watchers

Although for years the keepers had been marking Aurora's paw with brown coloring to help identify which twin is which, this practice has fallen to the wayside, as the moms are now with their cubs, and never together anymore, so they can easily tell who is Aurora and who is Anana.

Obwohl die Tierpfleger Auroras Pfote mit brauner Farbe markiert hatten um die Zwillingschwestern auseinander halten zu können ist dies nun nicht mehr notwendig,da die Mütter mit ihrem Nachwuchs zusammen sind und man gut unterscheiden kann wer Aurora ist und wer  Anana ist.

Aurora and Neva

Neva still looking for trout

Getting close

There it is!

Oh, it got away!

Neva shaking off the water

Shake it off!

Nuniq watches

The twins wander over to the other side of the yard, under the boat. Nuniq finds some mud with his nose. 


Die Zwillinge sind hinüber gewandert auf die andere Seite der Anlage, unter ein Boot.Nuniq hat etwas Schlamm auf seiner Nase.

Nuniq likes mud, just like his daddy Nanuk

How about a little muddy kiss, sister?

Nuniq reflects

Cubs face off!

The adventures of Anana and her energetic daughter Amelia Gray will be shown in the next entry.

Die Abenteuer von Anana und ihrer sehr lebhaften Tochter Amelia Gray wird sich im nächsten Eintrag finden lassen.

Running off with the toy