This year's polar bear cubs -

 

Mother Frimas with Nivi and Elva, from my visit in 2019.

For the 2023-24 season, we have reports of only three cubs born and surviving this year, one in the Netherlands and twins in a remote northern area of Russia. 

Frimas and Wilbär are the parents of little Otis in Dierenrijk, a zoo between Mierlo, Eindhoven and Nuenen in the Netherlands.

Otis was born November 28, and his birth was announced on November 30. He just made his public debut a week ago. Otis is very popular, and already there are many photos of him with him mom, many of the photos showing how much Otis likes to get dirty. 

Baby Otis this week. (Photo by Hans Muskens)

Frimas, was wildborn in Canada in 2002 (estimated), and has been in Nuenen since 2011. She has already raised three sets of twins:  Pixel (m) and Noordje (f) born in 2012, Nicky (f) and Simona (f) born in 2015, and Nivi (m) and Elva (f) born in 2018. Henk, one of Huggies' triplets born in 2005, is the father of all three sets of triplets born to Frimas. He lives in France now.

Mother Frimas an Baby Otis. (Photo by Hans Muskens)

Otis' father Wilbär was born to Anton and Corinna in the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart Germany in 2007, their only child. He moved to Orsa Predator Park in Sweden where he fathered daughter Miki born in 2020 with Ewa, and twin boys Noori and Nannok in 2021 with Hope. Sadly, Miki died of a heart condition at age 3 as she was being moved with her mother from Orsa to the UK. Hope, along with her twin boys, were also moved from Orsa to Peak Wildlife Park in the UK last fall, after Orsa Park closed.

Otis has some interesting great uncles and a great aunt. Antonia, the famous dwarf polar bear of Gelsenkirchen ZOOM, at age 34 is also the oldest polar bear that we know of. Antonia is the half sister of Wilbär's late father Anton. Both Anton and Antonia were born in Zoo Karlsruhe.

Wilbär's uncle Nanok II, who was half brother of Corinna, was also the father of Malik of Aalborg Zoo.

Corinna's older half brother Wilhelm, also called Willie, also born in Copenhagen, was sold to the East German Circus and ended up in a Mexican Circus, where he and five other polar bears were rescued in 2002 in Puerto Rico and taken to US zoos.  Their rescue was worldwide news. Wilhelm enjoyed a good life for ten years at the North Carolina Zoo and later the Milwaukee County Zoo. 

Father Wilbär, next door (Photo by Hans Muskens)

As the Russian twins, born in the Yakutsk Zoo (Orto-Doydu), the children of wildborn mother Kolymana, are quite remote, we haven't had much information on them. The Yakutsk zoo has announced that the twins will be allowed outside at the end of March. It is very near the Arctic Circle, so it is still quite wintry there. The gender of the cubs is not known. Father of the cubs is Lomonosov, son of Uslada. Kolymana and Lomonosov are parents of daughter Chaarchana (2016) and son Almaz (2019).

UPDATE on March 26: The cubs' birthdate has been announced as December 4. They are a boy and a girl, and there will be a naming contest.

“The cubs feel good, they run actively, tumble and play pranks, but they are always close to their mother. They have grown up and can confidently go out of the house in which they were born into the inner room. Kolymana also feels good, she has a lot of worries, every little bear needs an eye and an eye, but she’s doing great, she’s coping,” said Natalya Safonova, head of the scientific and educational department of the zoo.

The Yakutsk Zoo is about 450 miles south of the Arctic Circle, and quite remote, even from the city of Yakutsk.

In 2012, Kolymana was found as a wandering lost cub, all alone in the world, by members of the Bear Patrol in the ice of the East Siberian Sea in Nizhnekolymsky ulus. She was rescued and brought to Orto-Doydu,  the zoo which is just south of Yakutsk.  

Lomonosov, born in 2011, is the same age as Kolymana. He is the son of the late Uslada and Menshikov, who produced 16 offspring at the Moscow Zoo.

The Russian twins' birth was announced on January 29, but we don't know when they were actually born, and so far just an early den video, no photos. 

As the zoos in Russia and Europe are pretty much at capacity, there has been an intentional slowdown on breeding, and this is why there were so few cubs born last year and this year.

In the Fall of 2023, there were several births in Japan, but they did not survive. Also Friida in Tallinn Estonia had triplets, but just as in the previous two years, they did not live, and Friida is now thought to be too old and they will not try again. 

Last year

In 2022, Anouk was born in Hamburg, Germany, to Viktoria and Kap, the only cub in Europe. Twin girls Belka and Strelka were born in Novosibirsk Russia to Gerda and Kai, also in 2022. And in the USA, where there is plenty of room for more cubs, last year Crystal gave birth to twin boys Kallu and Kallik, with Nuka as the father. No cubs were born in the USA this year.

Thank you to my friend Hans Muskens for allowing me to use his photos of Otis and his parents in Dierenrijk.

Fiona and Tony - the world's cutest hippos for World Hippo Day

Here is Fiona yesterday,
 at just over a year old and about 700 pounds

Today, February 15, is World Hippo Day, a good time to visit 1 year old Fiona of the Cincinnati Zoo and four and a half month old Tony of the San Diego Zoo. Tony was born September 22, 2017. Some have suggested that Fiona and Tony would make a cute couple when they grow up. What a lovely idea.

Tony and his mom Funani in San Diego

Tony and his mother Funani in San Diego a month ago
when Tony was four months old

Fiona, who became a world sensation since her birth, just celebrated her first birthday  on January 24 with a party at Hippo Cove. Many of the other animals at the Cincinnati Zoo got treats in honor of her birthday. Her fans gathered in front of her pool to sing Happy Birthday to this special little miracle who made hippo history this past year.

Mother Bibi, with Fiona's birthday flags at Hippo Cove, the Cincinnati Zoo.

On Fiona's birthday, the keepers in both zoos had a public social media event, where they streamed video from in indoor quarters of the hippos in both zoos, and chatted about hippos and these particular special youngsters.

Fiona was 6 weeks premature when she was born, and weighed only 29 pounds. 

Fiona has many devoted fans around the world,
 and loves to interact with her visitors. She is a Diva.

Tony, a normal hippo baby, weighed 70 pounds, just to give you an idea of how precarious Fiona's life was in those early days at only 29 pounds. Thanks to the round the clock care of her keepers, and some intervention from the local Children's Hospital, Fiona became the first premature hippo to live to grow up. 

Fiona plays with her papa Henry

Fiona was raised by humans in those early months, drinking from a bottle of specially formulated milk and playing in indoor pools accompanied by her keepers as she learned the hippo skills she would need in life. All this time, Fiona was near her parents, Bibi and Henry, and could see, hear and smell them. Eventually, she was allowed to interact with them, and finally, to gradually reunite with her parents.

Fiona was reunited with her mother and father, Bibi and Henry

Fiona spent family time in the pool with her mother Bibi, and a little later her father Henry.  By the time Fiona was six months old, the three of them would nap together, with her parents on both sides to protect her. During playtime, she would climb into her mother's and her father's mouths to explore and get to know them. It was a blissful summer for this hippo family.

Henry and Fiona

Bibi and Henry were devoted to each other, and sometimes ignored Fiona to focus on each other. Fiona seemed to enjoy being around her father too. Sadly, the elderly Henry passed away October 31, so now it is just Fiona and her mother in Hippo Cove. 

Funani and Tony

Tony's life has been very different from Fiona's. Tony is Funani's 12th calf, and is never far from his mother, but he doesn't spend any time at all with his father Otis.

Tony in San Diego is pinned under his mother to keep him from wandering away during naptime. He can still reach his nose up to the surface to get air.

Tony was born at the edge of the large pool, and was introduced to the water almost immediately. The pool has a shallow area where Funani and Tony can sleep underwater, and Tony can be close to the surface to be pushed up for air. His mom pins him down with her chin during naps so he can't wander away, but he can still reach his nose up to breathe. This is the same way a wild mother hippo would keep her baby from drifting away in a river current.

Tony and his mom

It is interesting to watch Funani's hippo mothering skills with Tony. She will push him along with her nose, and roll him sometimes, to keep him moving. She will maneuver her baby to a high spot so he can reach up to get air. At age 4 months, he needs to come up for air about every couple of minutes. Adult hippos stay under for five minutes or more, and can stay under even longer if needed. Because Fiona was raised indoors by her keepers,  we didn't see her at this stage except in the many photos and videos, where she would be playing with colorful toys and cardboard boxes, learning new tricks in the indoor pools, and frolicking in the shower.

Funoni rolls Tony to get him going in the right direction

The San Diego Zoo keeps the father hippo separate from mother and baby. So Otis meets the public on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while Funani and Tony are in the large pool on Tuesday, Thursday and the weekend.

Funani opens her mouth wide, as hippos often do. They can open their mouths up to 150 degrees.

Keepers and regular visitors have noticed that Tony is a fearless little guy. Funani's most recent calf would hide from the public when he was small, but Tony has never been afraid to show his face to his fans.

Tony is fearless

Tony is not afraid of anything

The San Diego Zoo offers a gigantic pool area for the hippos, 150,000 gallons. The Cincinnati Zoo Hippo Cove pool is 70,000 gallons. Both hippo exhibits offer great underwater viewing of the resident animals.

Funani and Tony, her 12th baby at the San Diego Zoo.
 The water is full of floating hay pieces that the hippos have eaten and passed through their bodies.  An adult hippo produces 400 pounds of poop every day. The water is cleaned by water filters and by the Tilapia (fish) that clean the water by eating all that floating semi-processed hay.

And how much do these hippos weigh? I am told that Bibi weighs 3500 pounds, and Funani probably weighs about the same.

Funoni and little Tony

Fiona is somewhere between 650 and 700 pounds now, and she looks pretty hefty, until you see her next to her mom, and then she still looks small.

Fiona out of the water yesterday.

Tony weighed about 250 pounds when he was four months old, maybe closer to 300 now that he is approaching his fifth month. He is not weighed often. Fiona was weighed daily to make sure she was gaining weight properly.

Here's a video of Tony being moved around by his mother. Click on link below.

Video of Tony at the San Diego Zoo

Little Tony and his mom

 

Tony photobombs his mom

And Fiona knows how to photobomb her mom too.

Happy Mothers Day to Arki and Inga

Today, in honor of Mothers Day, we celebrate one of our notable mother polar bears, the lovely dancing Arki, the 27 year old grand dame. She is the mother or grandmother of seven bears in U.S. zoos. Arki now lives in Glacier Run in the Louisville Zoo, which is a leader in creating a great bear environment.

Mother Inga, center, with Otis and Rita behind

We also celebrate 7 year old Grizzly Bear mother Inga, mother of a couple of two-year-old rambunctious cubs, also residents of Glacier Run.

Arki lives in Glacier Run with two polar bear cubs and the family of grizzly bears, and the zoo rotates the bears through the two outdoor environments during the day.

Arki's grandson Siku plays with his mother Crystal,, in the days when he lived at the Toledo Zoo

One of the cubs living at the Louisville Zoo is Arki's grandson Siku, who was born at the Toledo Zoo two years ago and moved to Louisville last fall.

Arki had spent most of her life at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, where she and her mate Aussie produce some fine polar bear cubs, three of whom are still living, include Siku's father Marty, born in 1996, who now lives at the Toledo Zoo with lady bears Nan and Crystal.

Aurora and Anana at the Columbus Zoo can call Arki Grandma

Through Marty, Arki has four grandchildren: Siku at the Louisville Zoo, five year old twin girls Aurora and Anana (with Crystal) at the Columbus Zoo, and five year old son Nikita (with Nan), now at the Kansas City Zoo.

A poster at the zoo

Arki is also mother to Payton, born in 2003 and now living in the Memphis Zoo with his young lady friend Haley.

Grandma Arki is also mother of 5 year old cub Hudson, born in 2006 and still living at the Brookfield Zoo. In the year Arki gave birth to Hudson, there were only four cubs born in U.S. Zoos, and the other three were her grandchildren, Aurora, Anana and Nikita, fathered by Arki's son Marty.

Arki gave birth to a baby girl, Tiguak, born in 1999. Arki unexplainably rejected Tiguak, so the tiny cub was hand raised by zookeepers. She went to the zoo at St. Foy in Canada, where she was adored by all who knew her. Sadly, Tiguak died in April of 2011 following some routine dental surgery.

Arki was also mother of a boy, Kinapak, born in 2000, who tragically died in the Buffalo Zoo in 2007, possibly after ingesting some foreign objects that shouldn't have been in the enclosure.

Grizzly Mamma Inga

Making life in Glacier Run even more interesting is the Grizzly Bear family, consisting of mama Inga and her children Otis and Rita. Inga was a “nuisance bear” who was caught going through garbage and raiding chicken coops in Polson, Montana, and had exceed the “three strikes” rule. She and her cubs would have been put down if not for the Louisville Zoo volunteering to take them in. They arrived in August of 2010, when Otis and Rita were just about 6 months old. These bears still belong to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, but now have a permanent home at the zoo. Qannik, the other polar bear cub at the zoo, also belongs to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, but she will never be returned to the wild either.

Mother Inga

The Louisville Zoo believes in making life interesting for its bears. Polar Bears and Grizzly Bears in the wild live in an ever-changing world, and this zoo is shaking things up to make life fun and unpredictable in a number of ways.

Inga, top, and Rita and Otis (by yellow ball)

For one thing, the bears are rotated in and out of the two exhibit areas several times a day, spending some time in their bedrooms, and some time in the big pool area, and some time in the “loading dock” area. Glacier Run is designed to look like an abandoned mining town, with the interesting features often doing double duty as bear enrichment and exercise equipment.

The Grizzly children play-fight

Grandma Arki in retirement

Two years ago, it seemed that Arki had entered bear menopause, and the new Glacier Run exhibit was looking for a nice bear to live in the new state-of-the-art exhibit, so she came to Louisville, for a time as the only resident of Glacier Run.

Behind Arki is a ramp to help her get some exercise and strengthen her back legs. 

According to one of the keepers, the Louisville Zoo has been working with Arki in many ways. For one thing, her back legs weren't very strong. When she arrived, whenever she was asked to stand, her back legs were shaky. Now, she stand up regularly on strong and sturdy back legs. For the past two years, she has been running up and down ramps and stairways that are thoughtfully built into the environment.

Arki

Beloved by the zoo staff, Grandma Arki still does her charming little pacing dance at times. Every time a bear changes locations in Glacier Run, keepers arrange for little surprises, bits of food hidden in various spots and food puzzles to solve, which is designed to cut down on the repetitive behavior. Arki is a gentle old lady, kind of set in her ways, and will always do her walking dance. Zoo staffers do daily fecal (poop) collections for each bear, to test for stress hormones, and Arki's stress hormones are the lowest, so the staff feels that she is not pacing out of stress, but out of a comforting habit. When she dances, she closes her eyes in a peaceful way, as if to say that she is happy. 

She walks forward, then dancing backwards in rhythm, with her eyes closed, and a peaceful look on her face.

Although she will always engage in the stereotypical behavior of pacing, she is also spending more time in the pool swimming than she used to. The keepers are happy with her progress. They also learned about her favorite things from the Brookfield Zoo staff, and they make sure she gets an occasional treat of of her favorite lettuce peanut butter sandwiches.


Happy Mothers Day to Arki and Inga, and to all the other bear mothers out there.