Remembering Huggies

Huggies

Huggies was an iconic mother polar bear. A legend. Stories about her will be told for a long time. Her life held triumph and tragedy, and even stardom,  a long life surrounded by family,  keepers and fans who loved her. 

Huggies by the pool.

She was the mother of eight cubs: Freedom, triplets Jelle, Henk and Ewa,  twins Walker and the late Swimmer, and twins Lynn and Luka. 

Huggies in the old enclosure

Sadly, we lost Huggies this week, at the age of 32. It's a life that would not have been, if not for the brave fishermen who rescued her as a little cub alone on an ice floe near Russia's Wrangel Island back the spring of 1994. The young bear was brought to safety, and her further rescue was sponsored by diaper company Kimberly Clark, so she was named Huggies, after their signature diaper.

Sign at the Bear Forest - about Huggies companion of her youth.

Because she was just a cub, only a few months old and all alone, her new home Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands, brought in a brown bear cub of the same age, Björna, to be her companion and they could teach each other how to be bears. Björna, now an old bear too, is still there, across the way in the magnificent bear forest of the zoo.

Nuuk Nordman, in Skandinavisk Dyrepark.
 Father of Freedom while Huggies lived in Sweden.
Nuuk has since passed away. 

Huggies lived in Ouwehands for four years, then went to Kolmarden in Sweden, where she met Nordman (Nuuk), and gave birth to a daughter, Freedom, in 2001. Huggies and the cub moved to Ouwehands in March of 2002, when the cub was just a few months old.

Freedom's grandmother, Nordman's mother, was American born CW, who came from the Memphis Zoo. Nordman later moved to Skandinavisk Dyrepark in Denmark with his twin sister Ilka in 2006 when Kolmarden gave up polar bear keeping. So all of Freedom's cubs have American cousins.

Victor in retirement at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
 Victor has since passed away.

Young male bear Victor arrived in Ouwehands in 2000, while Huggies was away in Sweden, but moved to Amsterdam in late 2002, after Huggies' return, so Huggies could have room to raise her daughter. He returned in late 2003, and all the rest of Huggies' children were fathered by Victor, as well as most of Freedom's cubs.

Henk, one of Huggies' triplets, when he was in Eindhoven.

In November of 2005, Huggies gave birth to rare triplets, named Jelle, Ewa and Henk. The babies were named after the zookeepers of the time. The triplets went their separate ways, Jelle eventually ending up in Canada, where he now lives in Calgary. Jelle is the father of Shouka and Kinuk. Ewa went to Sweden where she had Miki, now deceased, and now lives in the UK. Henk went on to father six cubs in Eindhoven in the Netherlands and now lives in France. Henk is the father of twins Pixel and Nordje, twins Nickie and Simona, and twins Nivi and Elva.

Huggies' grandson Sprinter, in Hannover.

Huggies daughter Freedom gave birth to Sprinter in fall of 2007, fathered by Victor. Young Sprinter stayed in Ouwehands for three years, so he was present in Ouwehands when Huggies gave birth to her next set of twins, Walker and Swimmer, in 2008. Sprinter is now in Hannover Germany.

Huggies' son Walker (on the right),
 in Highland Wildlife Park,
with his friend Arktos.

Twins Walker and Swimmer were born in December of 2008. Walker and Swimmer were famous from the start, for their birth was filmed and featured in the David Attenborough BBC television series, "Frozen Planet,"  as it would be impossible to film such a birth in the wild. Walker and little twin brother Swimmer (both named after Kimberly Clark diapers, the rescue sponsor of their mother Huggies) made their public debut in March, and tiny Swimmer captured many hearts, for he was about one third the size of his brother, quite lively and scampering about. About a week later, poor Swimmer died during a swimming lesson, as some inborn weakness caused something to burst. Huggies and Walker were seen grieving for hours. It happened on a Sunday, with many families there to see the new twins, families who witnessed the tragedy and the great sadness of a mother crying over her tiny lost child, with bewildered young Walker there, grieving as well.  Walker now lives in Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland.

By summer of 2010, it was just Victor, Huggies and Freedom at Ouwehands. 

Huggies' granddaughter Sesi in Mulhouse Zoo in France,
 with first child Nanook, now in Munich.
Sesi has had another since then, Kara is now in Sweden. 

But then in November, 2010 Freedom gave birth to Sesi and Siku (later Taiko).  The next year it was Huggies' turn.

Lynn, now in the Copenhagen Zoo.

In December 2011 Huggies had twins, Lynn and Luka. At this point, the two moms, mother and daughter, were dealing with four cubs, Sesi and Siku (later Taiko), and Lynn and Luka, between them, and it seemed to work to raise them together in the large enclosure with that wonderful deep pool. These were amazing days, with Freedom and her older cubs, and Huggies and her younger cubs, splashing and playing for the visitors and on the Explore webcam broadcast around the world.  Two moms and four cubs all living together.

Luka in Wuppertal. He now lives in Yorkshire.

Eventually, these four cubs grew up and went  their separate ways. Sesi moved to Mulhouse in France and Siku became Taiko and went to LaFleche in France. Lynn moved to Vienna and then to Copenhagen.  Luka went to Wuppertal in Germany. He's now in YWP.

In August of 2014, Victor retired to YWP in Doncaster in the UK but not before adding to his legacy. In November 2014, a few months after Victor left, Akiak and Sura were born to Freedom.

Akiak and Sura, born to Freedom.

Once again, Ouwehands Zoo decided to mix the generations. They determined that the twins should meet their Grandmother Huggies in May of 2015, so Freedom and her kids went through some tense times. The several generations tried to meld, as they did previously when Huggies and Freedom raised their children together.  I was there to witness the attempted meetings.

Huggies keeps her distance from Freedom and the cubs.

Cubs Akiak and Sura don't trust the stranger,
 who is actually their grandmother Huggies.

There were days of confrontations, as the young cubs hid behind their mother, afraid of this older polar bear coming into their territory. The was a lot of huffing and chuffing going on.

It's okay kids, it's just grandma.

Huggies went about her business,
while Freedom and cubs kept an eye on her.

The apprehensive cubs stayed near their mother
 for protection from the "stranger."

                                     One brave cub tries getting a little

                                                 closer to Grandma.

Eventually, harmony returned, and Grandma Huggies, Mother Freedom and young twins Akiak and Sura learned to live together as a family. 

Huggies' grandson Akiak in Rostock

Akiak grew up and moved on to Rostock, where he fathered a set of twins, Kaja and Skadi, with Sizzel, and now lives in France. But Sister Sura remained in Ouwehands. 

Felix did not work out well with Huggies.
He was too enthusiastic.

A handsome long legged male bear named Felix came to visit in late 2015. He was already the father of the Famous Flocke, of Milak and the late Augo of Aalborg, of Gregor and Aleut and Charlotte of Nuremberg.  Previously, Felix had a reputation for being gentle, a real gentleman with the ladies. But in Ouwehands, he became over-zealous in his pursuit of  Huggies. Freedom was still grouped with her young twins. It was an uncomfortable situation. Felix left in July for another zoo in the Netherlands, and there were no cubs from that visit. 

Wolodja in the old enclosure at Ouwehands.

More success came a few years later. A Russian bear named Wolodja came from Tierpark Berlin in the Spring of 2019, just for the breeding season before moving on to Rotterdam. The result of that visit was another set of twins for Freedom, a girl named Yura and a boy named Yuka. 

Huggies finds joy in a flower

The zoo again tried to integrate the different generations of bears. Wolodja was gone, so it was just Grandma Huggies, older and much bigger sister Sura, Freedom and her twins. 

Tragic history repeated itself on that sad day, June 11, 2020, when young Yura, only 7 months old, was the object of rough play in the pool by her older sister Sura, who had no idea how fragile cubs can be since Sura had never been a mother herself.

Seven month old Yura died of internal bleeding from the playfight in the water with the much larger Sura.

The pool, where cubs played, but also a place of tragedy.

It was Deja Vu for Huggies, as she pulled her granddaughter from the pool, and sat in the same spot where she had mourned Swimmer years earlier, to mourn another tragically lost cub, sweet Yura, her granddaughter. 

A report from the zoo:

“Mother Freedom and her two cubs Yura and Yuka had been living with Grandma Huggies (Freedom’s mother) and Sura for several weeks. Sura is five years old and weighs almost 300 kg. In our extensive experience with breeding polar bears, we’ve had similar combinations of older and younger animals and it was never a problem.  Sura and the cub played together regularly, always under the watchful eye of their mother and grandma.

“Once all the polar bears were together, Mother Freedom protected her cub more intensively than before. We didn’t know she was like that. In retrospect, this was already a sign something was wrong. However, when Sura started playing roughly with the much smaller Yura (65 kg) – we don’t think it was a deliberate attack – Mother Freedom stayed on the side-lines. She no longer defended her cub.

“We believe the autopsy results explain this behaviour. It shows that Yura had been suffering from a respiratory infection, but that she didn’t yet appear to have had any symptoms. Based on Mother Freedom’s behaviour, we suspect that she “knew”. It’s common knowledge that mothers sometimes don’t take care of newborn cubs if they know something is wrong. In this case, Freedom let “nature” run its course.”

It is my belief, however, that since Sura had never been a mother, she played too roughly with her baby sister, not realizing how much smaller and more vulnerable Yura was. Huggies, having been a mother, had a protective attitude toward Freedom's cubs, something Sura had never learned. She only knew how to play.

In fact, I think Huggies was more on the alert that day for trouble than Freedom was, but just did not get there in time to save Yura. 

Brother Yuka, now six years old, is still in Ouwehands, along with big sister Sura, now 11 years old, and mother Freedom. 

Huggies

Time for a nap. 

 

Huggies swims in the old enclosure, and Freedom watches from a distance.

A life that started with a dramatic rescue, Huggies grew up with a brown bear companion who was still her neighbor, then traveled to the far north. She returned with her infant daughter, took care of a growing family, endured heartache and tragedy, but also knew joy and friendship. People came from all over the world to meet her. She even had a starring role in a groundbreaking David Attenborough documentary. Throughout most of her life, she had her daughter Freedom by her side, and her other children and grandchildren scattered throughout Europe and even Canada. Quite a legacy for a little orphaned bear rescued from an ice floe. 

Two polar bear tragedies, more heartbreak

March is the month for hope. Spring is coming, flowers are starting to bloom and the future looks bright.  But also, Beware the Ides of March. And really -- all of March.

This year in March, we lost two bears with big personalities, young girl bears that made us smile and had so much promise for bright futures. And now they are gone, Imaq in Denmark and Milk in Japan.

Imaq of Copenhagen, died this month.
She was only four years old

I don't know why the month of March has become a time for losing beloved bears before their time. For whatever reason, mating season, cubs emerge from the den, change in seasons, the stars aligning badly, we have seen too many tragedies in March.

The Nuremburg Four

The polar bear double enclosure at Tiergarten Nuremburg.

March 30, 2000, four female polar bears visiting Tiergarten Nuremburg temporarily from Zoo Karlsruhe were let out by some intruder, and were wandering about in the woods. To protect the public, the zoo decided they had no choice but to shoot them after attempts to tranquilize failed.  Nadine, Silke, and two other bears were killed. Nadine was the mother of Katjuscha and Antonia. Silke was the mother of Anton, grandmother of Wilbaer.  The four lady bears were visiting Nuremburg while the bear habitat in Karlsruhe was being rebuilt. They never got the chance to return home. 

Swimmer

In 2009, tiny Swimmer, emerged from the den with his mother Huggies and his twin brother Walker on that sunny spring day in Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands, and died within the week on March 23, having drowned after blood vessels burst in his chest. In a short time, the world had become enchanted with the videos of little Swimmer and his normal sized brother Walker. Swimmer was about a third the size of his brother, but seemed perfectly healthy. The brothers frolicked at the side of the pool, and Swimmer was just so cute.

Walker and Swimmer were destined for fame, as their birth and early weeks were filmed in the den for David Attenborough's "The Frozen Planet." 

 Here is a link to a story with photos about their first day out.

Huggies with Swimmer and Walker first day out

Then on that Monday, in front of so many visitors, Swimmer was in the pool, went under and did not come up. His mother dove in and brought his body to the shore, and everyone watched while Huggies and Walker grieved for the lost baby.  

Huggies still lives in Ouwehands. Walker lives in Highlands Wildlife Park in Scotland.

Knut

Knut the Dreamer, commemorative sculpture in Zoo Berlin,
by Josef Tabachnyk

Knut, famous cub of the Berlin Zoo who was only 4 years old,  died March 19, 2011, after brain incident, then collapsing into the pool and drowning. It was later found to be encephalitis. 

Knut and his twin brother were born December 6, 2006, to retired circus bear Tosca and father Lars. Tosca abandoned the cubs immediately, and the keepers rushed to save them. The brother died, but Knut rose to worldwide fame with photos and videos of his early life with keeper Thomas Dörflein.

Knut was immensely popular, quite a draw for the zoo. He lived with his keeper, then alone for a time. He was happy when young Giovanna came to live with him, but she left and went back to Munich. Knut then moved in with his mother Tosca and two other lady bears, Nancy and Katjuscha, where he was not terrible happy. On that fateful Saturday, in front an crowds of fans, he started walking in circles while on a rock in the middle of the pool, and then fell in. That was the end of him. An autopsy showed it was an inflammation of the brain, caused by encephalitis.

Now there are no polar bears at the Berlin Zoo. Lars, Tosca, Nancy, Katjuscha and Knut are all gone. But the lovely bronze sculpture of Knut the Dreamer continues to keep watch over the polar bear area.

And Knut continues to be a touchstone for all polar bear lovers, and inspired a community of fans and bloggers that continues to this day. 

Fritz

Fritz, photo by Tierpark Berlin

In Tierpark Berlin, four month old Fritz, son of Tonja and Wolodja, became very ill and died of liver inflammation on  March 7, 2017, breaking many hearts who had seen his adorable photos from the zoo. He seemed perfectly well for most of his short life, and we watched and waited for him to emerge from the den, but after a short illness, he died before he had the chance to venture into the world. 

In 2018, Tonja gave birth to Hertha, named after the Berlin Soccer team. Father Wolodja moved to Rotterdam, but Tonja and Hertha continue to live in Tierpark. 

Tips the Chocolate Bear

Tips of Osnabrück

March 11, 2017, we lost Tips, the beloved chocolate bear of  Osnabruck Germany, leaving behind her twin brother Taps to carry on alone. 

Tips and Taps were born in Zoo Osnabrück, Germany to European Brown Bear mother Susi and Polar Bear father Elvis, who was American born. It was a surprise, as it was thought at the time that polar bears and brown bears could not breed.

The brother and sister, sometimes called the Chocolate Bears, or Hybrid Bears, were a mix of the two parents. The Brown Bear part of Tips wanted to hibernate, unlike polar bears. She spent the winter of 2016-17 denned up, and emerged in early March, hungry, much thinner and able to squeeze through a crack between the bear enclosure and the silver foxes right next door, a crack which seemed impossible. But squeeze through she did, and finding herself outside the enclosure, didn't know what to do. She headed uphill, towards a path leading to the crowded zoo entrance, and the heartbroken keepers felt it was their only choice to shoot her to protect the public.

And now it is just brother Taps who lives in Osnabrück, alone with the silver foxes.

Tips (top) and Taps in 2012.

 Little One and Anana

Little One with Anana

Little One, the oldest male bear in the US at the time, died of old age on March 21, 2021, he was 31 years old. His death was not unexpected, but came on the heels of the news of the death of his beloved mate Anana in Detroit, just weeks before. 

Anana

Anana, who was born in the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on December 12, 2000, led a life very much like a soap opera. She moved around quite a bit, experienced some romance, and her life was tinged with drama.

Young Anana  moved from Salt Lake City to Buffalo in 2002.  A mate, the handsome wildborn Nanuq, arrived in Buffalo in 2009, but Anana was very reluctant to warm up to him. She finally decided he was okay, and gave birth to cub in December of 2012 but showed no interest in her baby (Luna, still living in Buffalo). Father Nanuq had left Buffalo before the birth, and Anana left right afterwards, moving to Brookfield Zoo in Chicago in early 2013.The Buffalo Zoo kept Luna's birth a secret as the keepers raised the little one, and announced it at a dramatic press conference in the spring. 

At Brookfield Zoo, Anana was alternately paired with old Aussie and his son Hudson. No cubs ever resulted from those meetings.

In 2016 Anana returned to the Buffalo Zoo, where her daughter Luna was now mostly grown, but of course she did not know her daughter. Still, Buffalo Zoo fans were delighted to see Anana again. In Anana's absence, the old bear pits she had known had been demolished, and there was a beautiful new double polar bear habitat, spacious and grassy, so she probably didn't even know she was back in Buffalo.

And then in 2016 Anana she was moved to Cincinnati, where hopes were high that she and a fine older male bear named Little One might have cubs. At first, things were off to a rocky start, as they couldn't stand each other. And then one day, after about a year, in a light bulb moment, Anana discovered that she adored Little One, and from then on they couldn't get enough of each other.

Sadly, no cubs resulted from this pairing, however Anana and Little One did have a fulfilling relationship during their three years together.

But Little One was elderly, and it was feared that yet another breeding season would be too hard on him, so Anana said goodbye to her paramour and went to north to Detroit, where gentle Nuka was waiting. And more drama.

She came to Detroit in early 2020, and had a good relationship with Nuka. Then, on that horrible day in February of 2022, she collapsed from previously unknown heart failure.

The two bears were on the ice pack when Anana collapsed, and Nuka tried to wake her by grabbing her head in his mouth, leaving some superficial wounds. Because of this and the blood, it was first thought that Nuka might have killed her in mating attempts. 

Several months later, the autopsy revealed that Anana had died of heart failure, and Nuka was exonerated. But this further news was not well publicized, and most people continued to believe that Nuka was guilty in Anana's death.

The real story was sent out to Detroit Zoo members, and I published that story, that Nuka was innocent, in my blog. The truth was not published anywhere else, so the original story was still what most people believed, even though it was wrong.

When Nuka moved to Toledo, his reputation preceded him, and people were concerned for their mother bear Crystal, but the truth was finally getting out there. Nuka and Crystal had a successful breeding season, and Crystal gave birth to twins.

The gentle Nuka, once falsely accused, has been exonerated. He has since returned to Detroit.

Milk

Milk (Photo by Yasuko Hatano)

Milk, the silly clown of a bear in Japan, was killed in a mating incident at Kushiro Zoo on March 1, 2023.

Ten year old Milk had been getting along just fine with the male, 14 year old Kiruro. On that day, an argument broke out between the two, and escalated. Keepers tried to distract them, using a fire hose. Somehow, Milk's neck was broken. 

Milk was born in Oga Aquarium in 2012, and was a favorite bear of the Japanese public, for she liked to clown around in silly hats, playing with toys in amusing ways, and often standing up like a little person. 

Milk's mother was Kurumi, and her father was Gota, son of Murma and Untai in Moscow. Milk had some well-known  uncles, for Gota is the brother of Rasputin of Tallinn, Kap of Hamburg, and Boris of Skandinavisk Dyrepark. Gota is also the father of two year old Fubuki.

The Kushiro City Zoo where Milk died was inundated with hundreds of bouquets of flowers from the many who mourned the loss of Milk, a very special girl indeed, and the flower tributes continued to pour in all month.

Imaq of Copenhagen

Imaq as a cub in Copenhagen Zoo

And now we have lost four year old Imaq, the delightful cub I met in 2019 in Copenhagen. She was the daughter of Lynn and Nord. In her curiosity in the afternoon of March 8, she broke through a steel gate and found an electrical installation, where she was electrocuted when she chewed on some wires. It was a freak accident, so tragic, and she was so young.

The Copenhagen Zoo is still has Imaq's mother Lynn, as well as Noel and her three year old daughter Inuvik, Imaq's half sister. 

Mother Lynn is the twin sister of Luka of Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Imaq's maternal grandparents are Huggies and the late Victor. Imaq's father Nord (North) was the son of Simona and Wrangel of Moscow. Nord, who died in Finland in 2021, was the father of Nissan, formerly of YWP and now in France, as well as cubs Imaq and Inuk in Aalborg, Beely and Sery of Paira Daiza in Belgium, and the two girls in Copenhagen.

Imaq's death was a freak accident, a sad event that will haunt many of us for a long time. She was a sweet, fun-loving girl. Rest in Peace, angel.

Toledo Twins!

 

Crystal and her twins December 9 - dencam photo

Although the polar bear birthing season is not quite over, and rarely is one born in January, as far as I can see, the only cubs born and surviving in a zoo this year are Crystal and Nuka's twins in Toledo. This includes the zoos in Europe, Russia, Japan and the USA, although we get very little news from China.

There were twins born in Japan, but they only lived three days. Triplets born in Estonia did not stay, sadly. These are the only publicly announced births, besides Crystal, but sometimes zoos wait awhile before announcing, so it is possible there are cubs somewhere.

The European zoos have seen a good birthrate for their polar bears in recent years, and are now being careful not to overbreed, and thus have intentionally moved many polar bears to all-boy or all-girl groupings. With the closing of Orsa Bear Park in Sweden in October, homes are still needed for Ewa and her two year old daughter Miki, and Hope and her one year old twins.

Russia seems to be concentrating on using their valuable zoo space for orphaned or injured polar bears, and have announced no births this year. In the past, they have sent polar bear cubs to China, but this is thought to not be a good option. Very little is ever heard about these bears, once they go to China.

Canada also seems to be concentrating on their rescued orphan bears, and saw no births this year.

Japan saw two births two years ago, and another a year ago. 

Zoos in the US would love to see more polar bear births, but the population is shrinking and becoming more closely related. There were no cubs born in a US zoo last year, and only the Detroit cubs the year before. The Alaska Zoo has just announced that they are taking care of a rescued yearling orphan male bear.

Crystal is an experienced mother, having already given us twins Aurora and Anana, Siku, twins Suka and Sakari, Hope, and Bo. Her daughters Aurora, the late Anana and also Suka have all produced cubs.

Crystal nursing Sakari and Suka in 2013

 Nuka is the father of the two year old girls in Detroit, Astra and Laerke.

Nuka with Mother Suka and her daughter Astra in Detroit

The small but mighty Laerke, only 290 pounds.

Polar bear cubs have a high rate of mortality, estimated at 50 percent in the wild and in zoos, for they are quite immature and fragile at birth. I found this chart at Gelsenkirchen ZOOM in Germany, which shows zoo births for polar bear cubs worldwide 2001 through 2016.

 These Toledo twins have made it through the riskiest time, the first two weeks, and have settled into a routine of eating and sleeping and sometimes crawling around.

A dencam photo on Dec 11

I estimate that Crystal's twins were born around the middle of November. They will not be on public display until spring, but meanwhile, everyone is invited to watch the twins grow via webcam: Toledo cub dencam

Twins are quite common in polar bear births, but triplets are rare, occurring maybe once a decade in a zoo. Although polar bear twins are usually about the same size, Crystal's cubs are not. The big chubby one seems to be about three times the size of the small one, but both are active and seem to be doing well. Her last set of twins, Sakari the male and Suka the female, differed in size although not to the same degree as these twins.

Suka and Sakari.

The sad story of Swimmer

There was one other pair of polar bear cubs that were very different in size. Walker and Swimmer were  born in December 2008 in Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands to Huggies and Victor. A dencam had been set up to film their birth and early days for Sir David Attenborough's Frozen Planet series, for it would be folly to try to film a wild mother bear. Huggies' rescue as an orphan cub had been sponsored by Kimberly Clark, thus her name, and Walker and Swimmer were named after types of their diapers.

The Ouwehands twins emerged from the den in mid-March 2009, and won the hearts of all.  Less than a week later, Swimmer was dead. His mother had been teaching him to swim, and a later autopsy showed that a blood vessel in his chest had burst from the exertion, and he drowned. It is not known if this condition was related to his small size. Huggies and Walker mourned for lost little Swimmer for a long time, as the public watched. It was a very sad scene. Walker went on to become a fine healthy polar bear and now lives in Highland Wildlife Park. 

This link goes to a newspaper's series of photos from the first day the twins emerged and happily played: Walker and Swimmer pics

I will never forget little Swimmer. He was here for such a short time, but touched so many.

Nuka's daughters

Nuka's daughters in Detroit, Astra and Laerke, also differ greatly in weight. When they were about a year old, Astra weighed 200 pounds, and Laerke weighed half that. But Laerke had been very fragile at birth and had to be handraised in order to survive. It is possible that medication she needed as a baby might have held back her growth. In any case, she is doing well, although will never be much bigger than she is now at about 300 pounds.

This also brings to mind another small but mighty bear, the formidable Miss Antonia of Gelsenkirchen Zoom. She was thought to be small but normal at birth, in Karlsruhe, but failed to grow like the other bears. She is a dwarf bear, weighing only about 300 pounds, but she is a feisty little thing, and is now, at age 32, is the oldest polar bear in the world (in a zoo, but wild bears don't live nearly as long as zoo bears so it is assumed she is the oldest).

Antonia of Gelsenkirchen ZOOM, at 300 pounds,
the oldest polar bear in the world

We all hope that both of Crystal's cubs grow up strong and healthy. When they come out to greet their public, I will visit as often as I can and watch these unusual twins grow and thrive. I am lucky that I live so near the only zoo with polar bear cubs in the world this year.

Crystal in September, just before denning up.
She was eating her vegetables.

Yes, Crystal, you must eat those vegetables.