A boyfriend for Qannik

                                          The lovely bachelorette Qannik

Wildborn Qannik is 13 years old now, and about to get her first boyfriend.

Bo playing with a pipe feeder in Henry Vilas

 Borealis, or Bo for short, made the trip from Henry Vilas Zoo in Wisconsin to Glacier Run in Louisville a few weeks ago, and is now out of quarantine, the zoo has announced. Bo has been exploring the outdoor habitat and maybe in a few weeks, he will spend some time with Qannik. 

Qannik of Glacier Run

Qannik has never shared space with another bear, but she is quite familiar with having male bears as close neighbors. Bo's brother Siku used to live in Glacier Run, and he would watch Qannik across the way in the other enclosure. But since Qannik is property of Fish and Wildlife, she was not allowed to be part of the breeding program until just a few months ago. Lately, she has been enjoying the companionship of a wild Night Heron, who has adopted the bear habitat as its home. It will be interesting to see how Bo reacts to the bird.

Qannik and her "pet" Night Heron.

Qannik, here with a big smile, loves the water. Bo does too.

Qannik also is familiar with Lee, who lived at Glacier Run for some time, but is now back in Columbus with Bo's much older sister Aurora. Each of the male bears in Glacier Run was close by in a downstairs bedroom area, so Qannik would see them and smell them and even growl at them. But to have no bars in between, that will be something new for our girl.

Bo was very interactive with people
 when he lived in Toledo with his mom Crystal

Qannik was raised by keepers after her rescue from the oilfields of Alaska, first in the Alaska Zoo, and then after she was flown to Louisville in late June of 2011.

Bo loves toys. Here is is in Toledo as a baby.

Bo is the five year old son of Crystal and the late Marty, so he is closely related to most of the younger bears in the USA zoos. Qannik, being rescued from the wilds of Alaska as a tiny cub, has valuable genes. 

Baby Bo

Berit, on right, showed Bo the proper way to court a lady.

Bo has been living with older lady bear Berit for three years in Henry Vilas Zoo, so she has taught him how to get along with a female roommate. Bo is young, so will probably not be dominant with Qannik, who is used to being a diva.

Qannik in her rocker toy, not long after she arrived in Louisville.

Baby Qannik with a crazy egg.

They do have some things in common. Bo always loved to swim in the pool at Henry Vilas, and Qannik is quite the water baby too. She really enjoys her underwater adventures in the deep dive pool at Glacier Run. So maybe they will have some fun together in the water. 

Qannik and one of her pickles. She has gone through quite a few.

The two potential sweethearts also like their toys. Qannik will have to learn to share her giant pickle. 

Qannik at her 13th birthday.

So now Louisville is about to get its own version of "The Bachelor." Here's hoping it is love at first sight for our two polar bear sweethearts.

A new "Era" for Qannik

Qannik at her birthday party in 2023

 It's time to celebrate Qannik's birthday with a party, and also to look ahead to what her future might hold. This year the party had a Taylor Swift theme with an environmental twist.

The keepers setting up the party on January 20, 2024.
Qannik was gifted a new giant pickle by a fan.

This past Saturday, Louisville Zoo celebrated Qannik's 13th birthday with a Swifty theme, on a sunny but bitterly cold day. Perfect for a polar bear.

A new ball, a t-shirt slogan, and an icy treat for Qannik.

Qannik got a new red ball and a new giant pickle, plus lots of her favorite pumpkin chunks. The specially designed posters were affixed to blocks with yummy peanut butter, and Qannik had fun ripping off the posters and licking the peanut butter.

Qannik comes down the ramp to the "stage"
 which was set with song lyrics and Swifty sayings.

Qannik performs some clever dance steps for her fans.

The zoo decided that because Qannik was entering her teen years, a Taylor Swift theme would be appropriate. The keepers had fun putting together the song lyrics and Swifty sayings that decorated the "stage."

Qannik inspects the Conservation ERA poster, featuring her photos.

Qannik in front of her ERAS poster.

Qannik's version of the ERAS poster

                                   Promoting Conservation the Qannik way. 

                                  "Cruel Summer" is a Taylor Swift song.

                               Delicious poster for Qannik's RED album.

                                       Qannik shows off how tall she is.

So many pretty bear pictures on the poster.

Qannik's special guest at her party was the Night Heron,
 a native bird to Kentucky who has made Glacier Run his home for the past year. Qannik doesn't seem to mind.

Click on this link below to see my story and photos in Knuti's Magazine featuring more pics of the Night Heron with Qannik:

Knuti's Magazine story on Qannik

The number of polar bears in US zoos has been in decline for several decades. While there were once 300 or so polar bears in US zoos, the number is now down to below 40. All the younger bears are closely related, which makes pairing them off more difficult. 

A poorly thought through federal law passed in 2008 banned the import of polar bears from other countries.  Whereas we used to trade polar bears to Europe and even Japan, and brought in bears as well, that was stopped. Crystal, our most prolific mother and grandmother, was born in Belgium, and without her, there would be no young ones here in the US. 

Crystal of the Toledo Zoo, with one of her current twins.

To complicate matters, rescued polar bear cubs from Alaska had been deemed to be the property of Fish and Wildlife and under their jurisdiction. For many years, these bears, even though they were born in the US, could not be part of the breeding program. That is changing, and thus Qannik can be matched with a male polar bear now.

It isn't just Qannik who has been affected. A young female polar bear named Zara was rescued last year and now lives at the Alaska Zoo. She is two years old.

The San Diego Zoo has three wildborn bears, but female Chinook is too old to breed, and 23 year old brother and sister twins Kalluk and Tatqiq are bonded and would not do well apart. Tatqiq has been on birth control for many years, so she cannot reproduce, but Kalluk might be considered for breeding as his wild genes are valuable. I have understood that Chinook, Kalluk and Tatqiq were grandfathered anyway, and not included in the breeding ban of wild bears.

 Kali, the male polar bear who was rescued when his mother was shot by a hunter, and who lived in the Alaska Zoo, then the Buffalo Zoo as a companion to young Luna, and now in the St. Louis Zoo, has been living alone for years, but maybe now can be matched with a suitable female from our core family from Crystal.

Of course zoos that currently have a polar bear or two are not happy to give them up, so it will probably be a struggle to find a mate for Qannik. Since she is wildborn, her genes are quite valuable, and she is not related to any of the other zoo bears.

20 year old Payton, who was born in the Brookfield Zoo and later lived in the Memphis Zoo and then the North Carolina Zoo, was chosen to move to Louisville to be a mate to Qannik, but sadly he died two hours into his journey on October 25. It was later found that he had some heart disease and a tumor, but no definitive cause of death has been announced. 

So now we wait to see if our bachelorette bear will find a suitable companion. She has never lived with another polar bear, but she is quite familiar with both Siku of Lincoln Park and Lee of Columbus, for these males have also spent time in Louisville, living next door to Qannik, so she knows them in that way, accustomed to their scent and seeing them often, but not sharing a space exactly.

Siku during his years in the Louisville Zoo.

I am sure that both Nuka and Lee, as proven breeders, were on the list as possible suitors as Suka and Aurora waited through the denning up season, but as no cubs were born, these guys will not be moving, most likely.

Five year old Bo, who was born in Toledo and is now living with older lady bear Berit in Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison Wisconsin, might be a good choice, as he is young and just beginning his breeding years. Berit has given him the social skills to interact with a lady bear. Crystal's year old twin boys, Kalluk and Kallu, will be needing a place to which to move in about a year, and they could move in with Berit at Henry Vilas. 

Bo at Henry Vilas.

Qannik is quite people oriented, and something of a diva, so I suspect it will take some time for her to accept a boyfriend. She might do best with Bo, since he is young and probably willing to follow her lead. Breeding season is almost underway, so there will probably be no action this coming season.

So now Qannik waits to see who is coming to keep her company.

Qannik, our latest Bachelorette. 

Here's Qannik in 2020, showing that she can "Shake It Off."

Crystal a lady in waiting

Crystal

 

Crystal, mother or grandmother of every US zoo polar bear cub born in the past nine years,  may not be shutting down the nursery just yet.  While Marty, her lifetime mate and father of all her seven children,  may have died last November, she welcomed a new temporary companion in Nuka, and reports of mating last spring have raised hopes that Crystal (nearly 24 years old), may give birth this fall. After all, the late Uslada of Leningrad Zoo in St. Petersburg, Russia, gave birth to her final cub (of 17) when she was 26 years old.

So far, Crystal is the mother of seven cubs, and grandmother of another seven. And Nuka is known to be fertile.

Nuka is the father of Crystal's daughter Suka's twins in the Detroit Zoo. Since one of the twins, Laerke, needed to be raised separately, it was felt that moving Nuka to Toledo last winter would give Suka and her twins the space they needed.

Nuka in the Detroit Zoo last fall.
He was behind the scenes when I visited Toledo last week.

Currently Nuka and Crystal are being kept separate, and only Crystal was out on the day I visited, Nuka has his days in the public eye too and the Toledo Zoo has large areas in the back, so whichever bear is not in the public enclosure has plenty of space.

The plan is for Nuka to return to the Detroit Zoo when Astra, the twin being raised by her mother, is weaned, and the two young girl cubs can be introduced. Then Nuka could be brought back to live with Suka in the coming months. After the twin girls are reunited, they may move to another zoo together.

Nuka's twin daughters, Astra (back) and Laerke, in October of
 last year.  They are also granddaughters of Crystal.

A docent confirmed that Crystal has been putting on weight recently. Her fur looks perfect. Don't be surprised if she starts denning up soon, which is normal for female polar bears, even if they are not pregnant.

Crystal is an immigrant bear. She was born in Monde Sauvage, Aywaille, Belgium on November 10, 1998 to parents Saskia and Orca  Also in Monde Sauvage was Crystal's five year old sister Blanche, who still lives there.

When Crystal was about a year and a half old, she was flown across the Atlantic Ocean to Toledo, Ohio, where there was a beautiful new polar bear habitat with a saltwater pool, the Arctic Encounter. Awaiting her arrival was a young male bear, born in Brookfield Zoo in 1996, named Marty. The next year, another female, wildborn Nan, born in 1994, arrived.

Nan in 2014 Toledo Zoo

The  autumn of 2006 saw both female bears at the Arctic Encounter giving birth. Crystal had twin daughters, Aurora and Anana (now in Columbus), and Nan gave birth to a son, Nikita (now in Hogle Zoo). 

Siku and his mom Crystal in 2010.

2009 brought the birth of Crystal's son Siku (now in Lincoln Park, Chicago.)

Crystal nursing Sakari and Suka in 2013.

The cubs just kept coming for Crystal. In 2012 she gave birth to twins, a boy named Sakari (now in Buffalo) and a girl named Suka (now in Detroit). 

Crystal with her twins Sakari and Suka in 2013.

Daughter Hope (now in Brookfield) was born in 2015.

Crystal and daughter Hope in 2016

Crystal's most recent cub, Borealis or Bo (now in Henry Vilas, Madison Wisconsin), will be three years old in a few months.

Crystal nursing Baby Borealis in 2019

 Will there be another cub born at the end of 2022? Crystal isn't telling.

Crystal also has 7 grandchildren. Aurora in Columbus is the mother of Nora (now in Oregon Zoo), twins Nuniq (now in KC) and Neva (now in Hogle Zoo), and Kulu (now in Como Zoo). Anana is mom to Amelia Gray (now in Oregon Zoo).

Aurora with youngest cub Kulu in 2020 in Columbus.

 Suka in Detroit is mother to twins, almost two years old, Astra and Laerke.

Suka with one of her twins, Astra, in Detroit last week.

Crystal's longtime companion Nan has moved on from the Toledo Zoo too, and is living in Como Zoo in St. Paul, with Crystal's son Kulu, and another older bear, Neil.

Nan, left, looking out for Crystal's grandson Kulu,
 in Como Zoo, St. Paul, in April of 2022

Sisters Aurora and Anana, who have no male bear with them currently in Columbus, underwent Artificial Insemination last March, and Aurora has already denned up. Polar Bear AI has not been successful so far, so this would be a first if she does give birth.

Aurora and Anana in Columbus in 2011.

And what of Crystal's relatives in Belgium? Her sister Blanche will turn 29 years old in December. Blanche lives with her daughter Qannik, who is almost 12 in Monde Sauvage. This year, a male bear named Nanuk (son of Cora of Zoo Brno) arrived from the Mykolaiv Zoo in Ukraine, shortly before the war broke out there. Nanuk's previous mate Zefirka and their daughter Smetanka are still in that warzone zoo, and we all think hopeful thoughts for these two bears.  

Crystal's sister Blanche is also mother of 21 year old Nanok, of Skandinavisk Dyrepark in Denmark, where he fathered Danish Siku, born in 2011 and handraised, and also twins Nuno and Nanu, born in 2012. Nuno is a new mother of twins born this last winter in Skandinavisk Dyrepark.  Nanu lives in France. Siku still lives with his father in Denmark.

Nanok of Denmark, son of Crystal's sister Blanche,
 first cousin of Crystal's children.

Danish Siku is one year older than twins Nuno and Nanu in Skandinavisk Dyrepark in Denmark. They are grandchildren of Crystal's sister Blanche, and first cousins, once removed, of Crystal's American children. 

Marty's journey has ended

Marty

 

Marty, the father and grandfather of so many cubs, has died at the Toledo Zoo, where he has lived most of his life.

Marty's handsome face

Marty

Marty was born to Arki and Australian born Aussie in the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago on November 25, 1996. He moved to Toledo when he was two years old. In 2000, just as the newly constructed  $11.5 million Arctic Encounter was opening, 16 month old Crystal arrived in Toledo from Belgium. In 2001, wildborn Nan, age 6, came to Toledo.  

Marty wonders who is that other bear?

Marty and his reflection, in the ice room.

When Crystal gave birth to twin girls, Aurora and Anana, and Nan gave birth to son Nikita in in 2006, the Toledo Zoo was a bit crowded, so Marty moved to the Pittsburgh Zoo while Crystal and Nan raised the cubs. then he returned to Toledo at the end of 2008, where he has stayed ever since. 

Marty swimming, back in his more active days

Nan had had no more cubs, and now is retired at Como Zoo, but Crystal has been a prolific mother, giving birth to Siku in 2009, twins Suka and Sakari in 2012, Hope in 2015, and Bo in 2018. There may yet be another cub or two, as Crystal dens up this fall and winter.

Marty

Marty's daughters Aurora and Anana have been prolific as well, Anana is mother to Amelia Gray, and Aurora is mother to Nora, twins Nuniq and Neva, and Kulu in the Columbus Zoo. Suka gave birth to twins Astra and Laerke in the Detroit Zoo.

Marty

Marty is fondly remembered by his many friends in the Brookfield Zoo, where he was born, and where his brother Hudson still lives. His other brother Payton lives in the North Carolina Zoo. 

Marty gives Nan a little kiss

Marty, front, snuggles Nan

He was a gentle giant, always kind and considerate of his ladies.

Marty napping in mid-August

Marty goes for a lazy dip on a warm day this past August

I last saw Marty in August. He was quiet, mostly sleeping. I wondered then if it was just because it was a warm day, or if he wasn't feeling well. He did go into the pool, but then he just floated there, awake but not wanting to play or swim.

Marty had been diagnosed with failing kidneys several years ago, and last Thursday, the vets put him under to examine him. They determined that his kidneys had gotten to the point where Marty's quality of life was impacted, so he was euthanized.

Marty was  massive bear

We now have only 40 polar bears in U.S. zoos. Marty was one of only three males known to have fathered cubs.

Marty's paw in August, as he slept.

With the exception of Luna, all the cubs born in the U.S since 2005 are either Marty's children or grandchildren. He will be missed but his great legacy lives on.