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. 

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.

Happy Father's Day to Victor

Victor

Happy Father's Day to Victor.

Victor was born in 1998 in Zoo Rostock to Churchill and Vienna. His brother Vitus has been proven sterile. His sisters Vilma, Valeska, Venus and Victoria have produced cubs, but Victor has outdone them all, with 13 offspring. He is now retired comfortably at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in the UK, where he lives with his grandson Pixel, and three other male polar bears: Nissan, Nobby and Raspi.

His first son Rocky was born in Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands  in 2002, when Victor was just four years old. The mother was a wildborn bear named Vera. Rocky now lives in Belgium. He is the father of a daughter named Qannik.

Huggies

Henk

In 2005, triplets were born in Ouwehands to Huggies. Henk is now in Nuenen, and has fathered three sets of twins there. Ewa lives in Sweden in Orsa Bear Park, but has no cubs. Jelle lives in St. Felicien in Canada, where he fathered two cubs, Shouka and Kinuk, with two different mothers, Milak and Aisaqvak, in 2018. 

Sprinter

Victor's son Sprinter, who looks a lot like his grandfather Churchill, was  born to Huggies' daughter Freedom in Ouwehands in 2007. Sprinter is a new father in the zoo in Hannover. Milana gave birth to a daughter, Nana.

Walker, on the right, with his friend Arktos at Highlands Wildlife Park

In 2008, It was Huggies' turn again to have Victor's cubs. She gave birth to Walker and Swimmer, named for diapers. The cubs' birth was filmed and used in a famous TV documentary. Swimmer was much smaller than Walker, but seemed fine. However, only a week after their public debut, in Mid-March, Swimmer had a medical emergency. Something had burst, and he died in the pool. This condition may be why he had been so small, about a third the size of Walker. Huggies and Walker grieved for a long time. 

Sesi with daughter Nanuq

Another set of Victor's twins, Sesi and Siku (now Taiko), were born in 2010 to mother Freedom, Huggies' daughter. Sesi now lives in Mulhouse France, where she had a daughter Nanuq in 2017. Taiko also lives in France.

Lynn with Imaq in Copenhagen

Luka in Wuppertal

Victor's twins Lynn and Luka were born in 2011 in Ouwehands to Mother Huggies again. Lynn now lives in Copenhagen and had a daughter Imaq last year. Luka lives with Anori in Wuppertal.

Akiak and Sura as cubs

Freedom with cubs Sura and Akiak

Victor's last cubs, Akiak and Sura, were born to Freedom in 2014. Akiak now lives in Rostock's newly rebuilt polar bear habitat. Sura still lives in Ouwehands.

Victor's grandson Pixel lives with his grandpa at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which has just reopened

Victor is king at Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Happy Father's Day to a great dad and grandpa.