Lazy summer days for Aurora and Lee

 

Aurora on land, Lee in the water

24 year old Lee and 17 year old Aurora are enjoying the last days of summer in the Columbus Zoo by napping, lazing around in the sun, and taking an occasion dip in their deep salt water pool. 

Aurora napping in the late summer sun.

Aurora is sleeping more and more, and wanting to be inside as denning season approaches. She has gained 250 pounds over the summer, now weighing in at 800 pounds. Her guy Lee returned from his stay at the Louisville Zoo in February of 2023, but no cubs resulted last winter, but baby hopes are high for this year.

My U.S. polar bear cub forecast predicts good chances for both Aurora, and also for her younger sister Suka, who lives in the Detroit Zoo with Nuka. Aurora is the mother of five cubs already, and Suka has been pregnant three times, with one successful birth and raising of twins (with help from the keepers for Laerke).

Lee says hello

A friendly smile

Lee dragging around a blanket toy

Lee weighs in at 1100 pounds. He has been around the block a few times, born in Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester NY in 1999, and spending time in Lincoln Park in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and Denver, but not fathering any cubs. He came to Columbus for the first time in November of 2018, where he got along just fine with twin sisters Aurora and Anana. The arrival of Aurora's son Kulu in 2019 meant that things were getting crowded in Columbus, so he was sent to the Louisville Zoo in 2020, coming back in 2023. By that time, Anana had passed away, so it was just Aurora waiting for him.

Aurora and Anana in 2011.
The keepers painted Aurora's paw so they could tell the girls apart.

I talked to a docent at the zoo about the loss of Anana. He said that she had had a cold, some sort of respiratory illness. It didn't seem too severe, but it quickly turned into encephalitis, and Anana's body just couldn't fight off the infection. It was suspected she had some sort of autoimmune condition.  In mid October of 2022, she died one month short of her 16th birthday.  

Young Kulu and his Auntie Anana in 2021. They were happy playmates.

Aurora and Lee's son Kulu now lives in the Como Zoo in St. Paul Minnesota with two elderly bears, Nan and Neil. Neil is brother of the late Icee, who was grandfather of Kulu's father Lee.

Elderly Neil and young Kulu in Como Zoo in 2022.

I visited the Columbus Zoo on the first day of September, and it promised to be a hot one. Lee and Aurora had been out earlier in the morning, but had gone inside for their breakfast. At about 11:15 each morning, the bear keepers present a morning snack to either the neighboring Alaskan Brown Bears Brutus and Buckeye, or to the polar bears. This day, it was the polar bears. Lee had been playing with an indestructible blue rug, but came over to the big pool when it was time. Aurora had been napping in the sun, and she was not interested in moving. 

Lee heads for snack time at the pool

Aurora would rather sleep than snack.

Lee had some snacks, and swam around for a bit, but was attracted to the window, possibly to a bag of strawberries that someone had left on the floor. Did Lee know that this was some delicious food on the other side of the glass? He did seem interested in that one spot.

Lee is curious.

Lee is just checking things out.

Ah, something yummy...

Sad. Lee can't get to the strawberries through the window.

Finally Aurora decided to wake up and come check things out.

Aurora thinks about coming into the pool
while Lee flirts with a little girl.

 She watched Lee play with the folks at the window, and then swam for a bit, playing with a plastic lid. 

The lid makes a great toy.

By this time, Lee was napping on a rock, half in the water and half out.

Good way for Lee to keep cool during his nap.

Aurora scratches her back on some rocks.

 After some water play, Aurora shook off the drops and headed for her den, where she would probably nap in air conditioned comfort for the afternoon. When I left, Lee was still sleeping in the shallow water.

Aurora heads for the den.

Aurora has always had her cubs in November, so we will wait and see. She is already mother to Nora, who lives in the Portland Zoo, twins Nuniq (now in Kansas City) and Neva (now in Salt Lake City), and young Kulu in Como Zoo. The father of Nora, Nuniq and Neva was the late Nanuq.

Aurora's cubs
 - a poster on the wall.

Family connections

Aurora and her twin sister were born in the Toledo Zoo in 2006, the offspring of Belgium born Crystal and the late Marty. Those parents went on to produce Siku, twins Suka and Sakari, Hope and Bo, and after Marty died, Crystal's new guy was Nuka from Detroit, and they had twins Kallik and Kallu almost two years ago.

Crystal's sister in Belgium, Blanche, was mother of Nanuk of Skandinavisk Dyrepark in Denmark, where he fathered Danish Siku, twins Nanu and Nuno, and Nuno now has twin cubs, so Aurora has cousins in Denmark.

Lee is the son of the late Aurora and Yukon of Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester NY. His siblings are twin sister Anana of North Carolina, Haley of Memphis and Anoki, now back at home in Rochester. Aurora was sister of the late Denali, who went to Japan and fathered eight cubs there, so Lee is related to many Japanese bears.

Lee's mother Aurora (many bears have been named Aurora and Anana) was half sister Kiska of ABQ Biopark, and of  the late Anana, mother of Luna. Lee's great grandfather Bruno was father of CW, who went to Europe and was mother and grandmother of many cubs there, so Lee has European cousins. Lee's father Yukon and his twin sister Berlin were the only polar bear cubs born and raised in the Cincinnati Zoo. Yukon and Berlin's father Icee was brother to Neil, now living in the Como Zoo with his great nephew Kulu.

Polar Bears in the Rain

Neva, Nuniq and mother Aurora in the rain,
 one week before the departure of Nuniq

Children grow up, and must strike out on their own. This is true for polar bear families too. Just short of their second birthday, the three Columbus zoo polar bear cubs are leaving their moms, and heading out to new homes. We were told that that the cubs would be leaving "in the fall," but no date was given.

Neva looks for fish, and Nuniq floats

I drove up to Columbus to visit Aurora and her twins on Thursday, September 6, with the remains of Hurricane Gordon bringing in bands of rain. The two bear families are rotated, so each day visitors only see one family. At first we thought it was Anana and her daughter, because we spotted a large bear and a smaller cub. As it turns out, there was a third bear. The first two bears we saw were Nuniq, as big as his mother, and Neva. The third bear was Mother Aurora.

Mother Aurora sits in the rock, while Neva and Nunuq play in the rain.

Neva on the left, Nuniq in the middle, Mother Aurora on the right

 Now just a week later, Nuniq has already left for his new home in the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison Wisconsin, where he will join older lady bear Berit, who moved there a few years ago from the Cincinnati Zoo.

Cubs at play

Nuniq is too young for breeding just yet. Berit is only distantly related. Her great grandfather is Clark, who is great great grandfather to Nuniq.

Neva (I think) looking for fish

Aurora, left, with Neva and Nuniq

Underwater wave

 
Nuniq's sister Neva and cousin Amelia Gray will be leaving the Columbus Zoo shortly for the Maryland Zoo. Current resident of the Maryland Zoo, Anoki, will be moving to the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, NY, next Tuesday. This is the zoo where Anoki was born 23 years ago, and where her mother Aurora recently died. It currently has no polar bears.

Neva goes fishing.
 Columbus is the rare zoo with live fish as enrichment for the polar bears.

Visiting polar bears during a very rainy day is usually not much fun, but we rode the shuttle from the entry right to the polar bears. The Columbus Zoo polar bear enclosure provides a roof for the viewing area, with an indoor stairway down to the underwater viewing, so it was actually a great day to visit.

The twins above the underwater viewing window

 The rain action stirs up the live trout that swim in the pool, so Neva spent much time in hunting, putting her eyes and nose into the water to wait for an unsuspecting fish to come close. The fish were too clever for her that day, but she has caught fish in the past. Nuniq doesn't fish, but waits for his mother or sister to catch one, and then he steals it.

Aurora gets some petting from Debbie

The rain didn't bother the bears at all. In fact they were very active and playful, and Neva was very much on the prowl for fishies. At one point, she was on the rocks, watching for fish, and a big clap of thunder spooked her. She ran away, but soon came back.

A good crowd took advantage of the shelter in the viewing area

Nuniq likes to cling to the window, and jump up and down.
 Here he surprises Neva behind him.

Neva and Nuniq

Neva plays submarine, looking for fish

Still looking for unwary fish. The rain makes the fish more active.

Neva's favorite past time. Fishing.

Neva gives a kiss to her brother

Neva and Nuniq. They are both shaggier than their mother,
rather like their late father, Nanuq.

It was a treat to see the bears in action during a heavy rain.
Here we have Nuniq and Neva.

Neva and Nuniq

 

Neva drips water, in between spying on the trout.

Neva soaking wet

 

Nuniq surrounded by raindrops

Neva fishing, Nuniq just playing

Aurora on the rock, Nuniq at the window. Neva in between

Nuniq has special glowing brown eyes. He really does. 

Cubs playing above the underwater viewing.
The visitors stayed nice and dry as a storm raged outside.

All three bears, mom and cubs, underwater view

The bears are much more active in the rain.

The family, all together, before the cubs' departure

Nuniq, Neva, Aurora

A family portrait. Aurora is in front, Neva back left, Nuniq is back right.

  Amelia Gray and Neva will be leaving Columbus soon. The zoo is not saying when, but it could be any time, since Anoki will be moved next week. These girls have the same father, the late Nanuq, and their mothers are twins, so the are very closely related, but have never played together, since the families are out on alternating days. Of course they have seen and smelled and heard their cousin, and will get along great in Maryland, I am sure.

The rain was very intense. 

The sister moms, Aurora and Anana, can finally be reunited after being separated for two years, while they raised their cubs. There is talk of bringing in a male, but with so few polar bears, and even fewer unrelated to them, it remains to be seen. 

Nuniq cleans the window