Polar bears Kiska and Koluk in the desert

Kiska in front, Koluk sleeping in back.
 I took these photos about two weeks before Koluk died.

Some people may wonder how polar bears do in a desert environment as in the ABQ Biopark in Albuquerque NM. Twin brothers Kiska and Koluk  have lived there for a quarter of a century in good spirits most of the time. 

Koluk standing atop the basin, Kiska in front.

 Sad to say, Koluk died of liver and kidney failure, common illnesses in polar bears of advanced age, a little more than a week after my visit. He was 26 years old. His twin brother Kiska carries on by himself now, and seems to be in robust health. 

I visited the brothers last summer, and they were both active and playful. This visit, Kiska was his old self, but Koluk was barely there, coming out rarely, never swimming, very slow of movements. I could tell he was not doing well. His twin brother Kiska knew this as well, I am sure, and left his ailing brother alone.

Kiska and Koluk having breakfast together in the cave area.

It seemed to me that Kiska had already moved on, that he knew his brother was dying and it was best to just let him be alone. The boys usually nibbled on their breakfast together down in the cave area, the Koluk went inside while Kiska roamed around the enclosure, doing his own thing. Kiska carried on with the business of being a polar bear, swimming and playing and pacing and sleeping. 

Koluk would occasionally come out into the lower area, and a few times he climbed to the upper area, then dozed on his favorite rock, while Kiska roam and played.

On my last day there of my four days at the zoo, I finally found a polar bear keeper and conveyed my worries about Koluk. Yes, he was slowing down, I was told, but I was assured he should be fine again. By the end of the week, the vets had done an exam of Koluk and found liver and kidney failure. It progressed rapidly and he was gone a week later.

Kiska front, Koluk back

Koluk resting his chin on a rock.

And now it is just Kiska.

Kiska killing the barrel.

If you look hard enough, over by the wolves, you can find the old small outmoded polar bear enclosure which was been abandoned when the new habitat was built a quarter of a century ago, but is still there behind a fence. The newer enclosure was finished just before Kiska and Koluk arrived in 1997. The bears have three waterfalls, a lower pool and a deep diving pool, a slide with running water (which they have been known to climb up), and air conditioned bedrooms. There is also an inside pool.

To address Kiska's pacing problem, some changes were made recently. Kiska had gotten into the habit of pacing atop the rim of the upper pool, repeating the same seven steps in one direction, then reversing and doing seven steps back. Always in the same spot. Some polar bears pace, some swim laps repetitively. It is a calming mechanism, and has been shown to lower their cortisol levels.

Kiska in his pacing routine, which is now less frequent than it was.

A plan was devised to give the polar bear brothers access to more inside space which had previously been closed off to them, and when Kiska has been pacing for a bit, a keeper will call him inside to disrupt the pattern. When he returns to the outside, Kiska usually finds something else to do. These measures have reduced his pacing considerably, but he will probably always want to do his little dance. He  sometimes will stop pacing on his own to take a dip in the pool, or play with the many toys. 

Treat time, which is when the keeper brings in a bucket of rainbow trout to throw, will vary so Kiska won't be as likely to anticipate it. Anything to break up the usual routine. Sometimes they get salmon, but their favorite is squid.

Koluk with his fish. Although he was always an avid swimmer, Koluk wanted the fish thrown to him on dry land so he didn't have to get his paws wet, during his illness in his last few weeks.

Koluk was diagnosed with a heart murmur in 2019 and after that, the keepers made sure Koluk got his fish without diving for it. In his last few weeks, Koluk didn't want to put his paws in the water, even to get fish. 

Kiska is still quite the diver.

Kiska dives for the trout.

The zoo is in the middle of some major building projects right now, the Australian area and the new elephant habitat, but there is also a tentative plan down the road to improve the polar bear enclosure. 

Since the lions Kenya and Dixie left for Abilene in March of 2023, that grassy habitat adjoining the polar bear home has been empty. It was too small for lions, but it would be quite easy to attach it to Inukshuk Bay, which is what the polar bear area is called. I don't know if the death of Koluk will affect this, or how solid is this plan.

Welcome to Inukshuk Bay.

Connecting to the old lion enclosure would greatly improve the polar bear habitat, giving the bear (or bears) more variety, a much bigger area, and grass. From talking to the docents, I got the idea that when both these bears are gone, the zoo plans to stop keeping polar bears, but this clever change might bring it up to current standards.

The old lion habitat is fronted by a moat.

Edge of polar bear habit (left) adjoins the old lion habitat.

The edge of the old lion habit, empty now.
 You can see the walls of the polar bear habitat behind.

 Of course with the death of Koluk, we now have only 39 polar bears in US zoos, so it is not a sure bet that polar bears will be available. On the bright side, Crystal and Nuka's twin boys in Toledo were added to the population, and they are only six months old.

Kiska having fun with a big barrel.

Kiska is pretty playful for a 26 year old bear.

I did see Kiska playing with a big barrel for a long time. Even though he is 26, he is very playful. 

Kiska doesn't swim for long periods,
but he often takes quick dips in the chilled deep dive pool.
There is a lovely huge underwater viewing window.

He also likes to take short swims in the deep dive pool, which gives visitors a chance to see a polar bear underwater up close.

 

Kiska in the swim. 

A wider view of the polar bear enclosure, with a lower pool and an upper deep dive pool, a waterslide, and three waterfalls.
That is Koluk on the top.

Kiska and Koluk were born in Salt Lake City in November of 1996 to Chinook and Andy. Their half brother Denali lives in Sapporo, Japan and is the father of eight cubs. Anana (mother of Buffalo Luna) of Brookfield, Cincinnati, Buffalo and Detroit was also their younger sister, and they had a half sister, Aurora of Rochester, mother of Lee (father of Kulu), Haley, Peyton and Anoki.  

And here are their cousins around the world! Their grandfather was Bruno of Memphis, who was also the father of CW and Elvis who went to Europe. Elvis was the father of the famous Chocolate Bears, or Hybrid bears, Tips and Taps. CW was the mother of Nuuk-Nordman, father of Freedom; Ilka, mother of Danish Siku, Nanu and Nuno; Manasse, father of Ranzo and Sisu; Baffin of Japan (mother of Momo-Peach), and the late Yukihime of Japan. So their cousins include Ranzo of Vienna Austria, Sisu of YWP in the UK, Kulu of Como Zoo Minnesota, Sprinter of Hanover Germany, Sesi of Mulhouse France, Taiko-Siku of La Fleche in France, Akiak of Amneville France, cubs Kaja and Skadi of Rostock Germany, and Sura of Ouwehands the Netherlands. Not to mention all of Denali's cubs and grandchildren in Japan. 

I will be watching to see what the future holds for the polar bears in the ABQ Biopark. Kiska seems to be in good health, and may live for quite some time. Maybe the expansion plan involving the lion habitat will happen. Even though some may think the desert is not a good home for these bears, Kiska and Koluk have thrived here for 25 years. I hope Kiska continues to be well and enjoy his desert paradise.

Lee comfy in Columbus

Lee

Lee is getting comfortable at the Columbus Zoo. The girls, Anana and Aurora, are denned up for the season, so he has the whole place to himself. He prefers to sleep outside in his "man cave," rearranging the raffia bedding to suit himself.

It is Wildlights Season at the Columbus Zoo,
 with lots of lights, even during the day.

Lee's "man cave" and his scratching post

When he does spend time indoors, the keepers give him lots of cardboard boxes to arrange and rearrange in his indoor bedroom, because he loves to decorate. Cardboard would be a problem with the water filtration system of the pools, so he has to be happy with fluffy straw and raffia outside.

Interior Design by Lee

Lee weighs 1100 pounds now

He arrived about a year ago from the Denver Zoo, where he had been living with Cranbearry, although they were kept separate. In Denver, he was showing stereotypical behavior, that is pacing and repetitive movements. It is much better in Columbus, where he has wide open meadows and lots of space for roaming and swimming.

He is very fond of Aurora and Anana, but is making the best of it while they are denned up. He is also very attached to his keepers, and they are very fond of him as well.

His fur is looking great now that it has grown in

I visited earlier this week, and Lee had just had his weekly allergy shot. The keepers have trained him to back up against the bars so he can get the injection, while another keeper fed him watermelon and peanut butter.

Lee thinking about another nap

 He has suffered from multiple allergies, and needs the weekly injections to keep the itching at bay. He was scratching quite a bit on Monday, but his keepers said that he should be much better the next day. They tried to get him interested in playing with his toys, or swimming, but he was having a lazy day on Monday.

The keepers are used to dealing with allergies, as the late Nanuq had a severe allergy to grass, and they had to medicate him for that.

It feels good to scratch that itch

His "itching" grimace

He has his favorite scratching posts, a trunk of a tree that has lots of knobs sticking out. He sometimes rubs on stones too. 

Showing his beautiful teeth which he scratches

When he scratches with his paws, or rubs against something,  he makes funny biting faces, showing his teeth.

Scratching an itchy tummy

Lee has enjoyed his time with sisters Aurora and Anana. Each has produced cubs before, so chances are good we may have cubs again this year.

On his way to the scratching post

 Neither Lee, nor any of his siblings have produced cubs yet. Lee's mother was the late Aurora, and his father was the late Yukon, who, along with his twin Berlin, were the last polar bears born at the Cincinnati Zoo, in 1989.

Aurora and Yukon were parents of Anoki, now in Seneca Park Zoo Lee's twin sister Anana of the North Carolina Zoo, and Haley of the Memphis Zoo.

Lee loves his soft bedding

 Lee is descended on his mother's side from the Memphis Zoo's Bruno, and on his father's side from Olaf and Olga of the Omaha Zoo, and thus is related to many of the bears in Europe, such as all of Olinka's children and all of Freedom's children. Elvis was his cousin, and so is Ranzo.

Lee watches me

 Lee's keepers say that he weighs about 1100 pounds. His fur has grown in and is looking much better than when he arrived a year ago, all nice and white and fluffy. 

Lee blends in with his fluffy bedding, all carefully arranged

 

A little more scratching

 

Itchy ear

   

Lee's itchy allergies are much better with his weekly allergy shots

 I had visited Lee once before, in the summer of 2009, when he was in Detroit with retired rescued circus bear Bärle. He was much more interested in Bärle's young 4 year old daughter Talini who was across the way in another enclosure. Lee could see Talini, who was in with Neil and Buzz at the time, if he stood up. Lee was pacing, then standing, trying to impress Talini from a distance. Those were the days when I didn't have a good camera, so the photos are not the best, but nevertheless historic.

Lee in the grassy area at the Detroit Zoo Arctic Ring of Life in summer of 2009

Lee looking over at young Talini next door - 2009 in Detroit

Lee a decade ago, in Detroit

I am hopeful Lee will at last be a daddy, and we will have some cubs in the Columbus Zoo again.

Behind the Scenes with Bo and Crystal

Bo plays with his ball behind the scenes

Crystal's seventh cub Bo was born on December 9, 2018, and spent the first few months with his mom in the small dark den behind the scenes at Arctic Edge in the Toledo Zoo, drinking lots of milk, growing at an amazing rate, getting strong.

Bo is a very playful 8 months old now.

Bo loves his toys

When he was old enough to come out to play, still hidden from the public, his mom Crystal could teach him to swim in an adjustable shallow pool in a large area behind the regular enclosure out front, where dad Marty entertained the visitors.

Sometimes his keepers smear food on Bo's Jolly Ball

This spacious room with no roof was his home until he made his public debut in May. There is also a hall with "bedrooms" for the bears leading off the grand courtyard like area.

Bo and his Mom Crystal. 

 I took the behind the scenes tour at the end of the day, where for a small charge ($20), you can spend some time privately spying on the bears as they munch down some fish. As it turns out, it was just me and my guide, for the other two people who had signed up for the tour were no-shows.

Bo thinks he has caught a fish

 Crystal and Borealis, or Bo for short, were given a good supply of small fish, which they quickly gobbled up. They got some larger fish too, and there were vitamins and supplements hidden inside, so the bears were more reluctant to eat the bigger fish, my guide explained.

Bo checks the fish out.

Bo is proud that he "caught" one!

 Finally the bears went after the bigger fish, but seemed to be trying to avoid the vitamins hidden inside.

Bo

 Bo has plenty of toys to play with. My guide told me that Bo seems to prefer playing with balls more than anything else, and he had a pretty purple ball in the back.

Bo and his ball

Bo likes to toss things into the pool

Toys of all shapes and sizes

Bo also had part of a big blue barrel to play with, and a plastic spool just like the one I remember watching his big sister Hope push around on the ice.

A few years ago I took the behind the scenes tour at the Arctic Edge, when twins Suka and Sakari were little. They had a great time playing with the fish too. On that tour, attended by a great many more people, we were shown the water tanks where the salt water is processed, a food area with a freezer to make frozen treats for the the bears, as well as a veterinary area.

I appreciate that the Toledo Zoo offers this behind the scenes tour. I am always interested in seeing the bears in a different environment and being able to ask questions.

Crystal standing, and Bo racing

Looking for more fish?

Mom Crystal