Polar Bears In Canada

Heres a very interesting article on polar bear reproduction in Canada.

For Toronto they have facts wrong. Aurora has had 4 litters, she killed litter one, almost wiped out litter 2 (Hudson surivived), tried to nuture 3 and 4. Apparently shes had no milk for this last litter (likely the 3rd too). I hope they pull any future cubs as soon as they are sure shes done giving birth to give the cubs a chance at survival or simply stop breeding.

Nikita continues to fail to breed. I remember hearing she had a miscarriage while living in Quebec but I could be wrong. Maybe thats another reason shes not able to breed.

At Zoo sauvage de St.-Félicien they have another boo boo in the article. Taiga did not get traded for Yelle as she is a Aquarium du Quebec. But they say Aisaqvak simply not as into Yelle as she was into Inukshuk.

I guess they ignored the bears at Aquarium du Quebec.

And Assinibione was mention but only as a future breeding facility.

As polar bear populations decline, zoos are keen to breed the carnivorous mammals in captivity ? but it’s tricky | National Post
 
It's polar bear addition season. Assiniboine now has rescued orphans Blizzard and Star bringing their total to 6 bears.

Winnipeg zoo's newest polar bear cubs named Blizzard, Star - Manitoba - CBC News

There is still the possibility more orphans will be found in the coming weeks as the polar bears await the arrival of the sea ice.

Toronto Zoo (1.2)
Nikita (F)
Aurora (F)
Humphrey (M) Aurora x Inkushuk

Winnipeg (3.3)
Hudson (M) Aurora x Inkushuk
Storm (M)
Aurora (F)
Kaska(F)
Blizzard (M)
Star (F)

Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat
Inukshuk (M)
Ganuk (M) Aisaqvak x Inkushuk

Aquarium De Quebec
Taiga (F) Aisaqvak x Inkushuk
Eddy (M)

St. Felicein
Yelle (M)
Aisaqvak (F)

Canada's polar bear population sits at 15. There are 4 breeding age males (3 of which are in breeding situtations), 2 sub adult males, 2 yearling males, 4 breeding age females (all in breeding situations) and 3 young females. The population consists of 9 wild born animals (Inukshuk, Aurora, Nikita, Aisaqvak, Storm, Kaska, Aurora, Blizzard and Star) while the rest are captive born, two of which Eddie and Yelle were born outside of Canada. Of those 15, Inukshuk is the father of 4, Aisaqvak is the mother of two, Aurora is the mother of two, and Nikita is the aunt of two. That leaves 7 of the 15 completely unrepresented and 5 completely related to each other. Blizzard and Star being twins means they are related but they are awhile from being represented by offspring.

Cubbing season is now upon us as well. Both Nikita and Aurora have been bred to Inukshuk again. Nikita is being observed closely at the moment. It seems Inukshuk only has to look at Aurora to get her pregnant. Aisaqvak has been removed from display in anticipation of possible cubs. The only adult female I do not know about is Taiga. She has just reached maturity so its possible she and Eddie could be come parents but I do not know if they have mated yet.

By January hopefully several of females will have given birth to new cubs.
 
Cochrane is getting a new polar bear. Six year old male Mikal is arriving from Aalborg Zoo in Denmark because he is surplus to the population. His arrival could mean good things for the Canadian bear population. Since he is already mature he could possibly be used to breed with Toronto's girls. Aurora is a proven breeder so it would be a good way to test out his breeding and remove Inukshuk from the breeding population. He could also potentially be swapped with Eddie or Yelle if they dont reproduce with their mates eventually.

Polar Bear Habitat to Get A New Polar Bear | Kapuskasing Times
 
Henry has arrived at the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat, safe and sound.

Here's how things sit going into the 2015 cub season for all 17 polar bears.

Toronto Zoo (1.2)
Inukshuk (M)
Nikita (F)
Aurora (F)

Winnipeg (4.3)
Hudson (M) Aurora x Inkushuk
Storm (M)
Aurora (F)
Kaska(F)
Blizzard (M)
Star (F)
Humphrey (M) Aurora x Inkushuk

Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (2.0)
Ganuk (M) Aisaqvak x Inkushuk
Henry (M)

Aquarium De Quebec (1.1)
Taiga (F) Aisaqvak x Inkushuk
Yelle (M)

St. Felicein (1.2)
Eddy (M)
Aisaqvak (F)
Mikal (F)

Hopefully the three new breeding pairs in Quebec prove fruitful.
 
If you want more info on them I can provide it. This is just running list but I have more.
 
Since another breeding season is upon the polar bears looks like Toronto was the only one with cubs. Here is and updated list of the now 20 polar bears in Canadian zoos or aquariums.

Toronto Zoo (1.3)
Inukshuk (M)
Nikita (F)
Aurora (F)
Juno (F) Aurora x Inukshuk

Winnipeg (6.3)
Hudson (M) Aurora x Inukshuk
Storm (M)
Aurora (F)
Kaska(F)
Blizzard (M)
Star (F)
Humphrey (M) Aurora x Inukshuk
Eli (M)
York (M)

Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (2.0)
Ganuk (M) Aisaqvak x Inukshuk
Henry (M)

Aquarium De Quebec (1.1)
Taiga (F) Aisaqvak x Inukshuk
Yelle (M)

St. Felicein (1.2)
Eddy (M)
Aisaqvak (F)
Mikal (F)
 
Update the moves and additions. Inukshuk moved to Cochrane. Hudson and Humphrey returned to Toronto. Juno moved to Winnpeg. St Felecien and Aquarium du Quebec swapped males. Winnipeg saw the death of Eli but the arrival of orphans Nanuq and Siku.

Toronto Zoo (2.2)
Hudson (M) Aurora x Inukshuk
Humphrey (M) Aurora x Inukshuk
Nikita (F)
Aurora (F)

Winnipeg (4.5)
Storm (M)
Aurora (F)
Kaska(F)
Blizzard (M)
Star (F)
York (M)
Juno (F) Aurora x Inukshuk
Nanuq (F)
Siku (M)

Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (3.0)
Inukshuk (M)
Ganuk (M) Aisaqvak x Inukshuk
Henry (M)

Aquarium De Quebec (1.1)
Eddy (M)
Taiga (F) Aisaqvak x Inukshuk

St. Felicein (1.2)
Yelle (M)
Aisaqvak (F)
Mikal (F)

Only St. Felicein and the Aquarium bred this year. Next year will possibly see Storm begin attempting to breed with Aurora and Kiska as they are all nearing maturity.
 
TZFan said:
There's an interesting chat in the US forum about their polar bears and how theres not enough of them for their new exhibits. I know we cant export ours to them but the discussion got me thinking about our bears.

I know of 5 facilities with polar bears; Toronto, Assiniboine, Cochrane, Saint Felicien and Aquarium Du Quebec. How many others are there? Are there any others?

Also how many bears do we have. I can account for 9. Any others?

Toronto Zoo
Nikita (F)
Aurora (F)

Winnipeg
Hudson (M)
No Name (M) the attempted man eater

Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat
Inukshuk (M)
Ganuk (M)

Aquarium De Quebec
Taiga (F)

St. Felicein
Yelle (M)
Aisaqvak (F)

Our population seems small and rather unfeasible genetically. Inukshuk is the father of Ganuk, Taiga and Hudson. Nikita and Aurora are sisters so their cubs will all be related. Aisaqvak is the mother of Ganuk and Taiga so any cubs she produces with Yelle cant breed with them. Seems like in one generation we are out of unrelated bears unless no name gets transfered and starts breeding and another couple of bears get into trouble and land in a zoo.
Click to expand...
'Attempted man-eater?'
 
Yeah Storm was the attempted man eater. I don't recall the exact details though you could likely look it up on line but Storm attacked someone which is why he was captured. He was far older than the other rescues... two or three at the time. All the other rescues were cubs under a year. They decided he was a danger to the community if they left him alone. It was either put him down or give him a shot in Winnipeg. Since he was still rather young they felt he would adapt to captivity and sent him to Winnipeg where he could serve as a mentor bear for Hudson. He's done just fine since.
 
TZFan said:
. Next year will possibly see Storm begin attempting to breed with Aurora and Kiska as they are all nearing maturity.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the list of bears in Canada. I’ve learned at keeper talks that both Storm and Blizzard in Winnipeg have been fixed, so no cubs for them :)
 
Interesting that they have fixed Storm more so than Blizzard. Blizzard at least has a sister who can breed. Storm has no relatives. I know there isn't much in the way of space but if you can't handle more bears then send some out to both Japan and Europe who could use new lines. Unless they have genetic defects the zoo doesn't need passed along.
 
It is far more likely the zoo isn't allowed to send them out at all, and that is why they are castrated.

Given that they are wild origin bears, it would not surprise me at all to see that there are limitations imposed by the province to keep the bears from breeding or going overseas.
 
Well that also may explain why Hudson and Humphrey were returned to Toronto. Hudson is about to enter maturity a year behind Storm and Humphrey is the same age as Blizzard. Toronto likely didn't want their boys being castrated because they have been eyeing homes for them in Europe. What a waste of valuable genetics that could help the captive population. We have a fantastic polar bear complex in Winnipeg housing 8 wild born bears who could add to the genetic diversity of the worlds captive polar bear population when polar bears can prove difficult to breed and that breeding potential is being wasted. Not all bears in Canada can be related to Inukshuk and Aurora. Can Ontario just take over Churchill? Ontario seems to have no problem with breeding wild born stock. If only the US would take our cubs.
 
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