Wow. I would have expected Maryland to get another polar bear when it was time for them to leave. It's a shame that there is now one less zoo that'll be keeping polar bears, at 21 total facilities. Not a facility I'd have expected to leave polar bears anytime soon either. Sad.
This leaves NC zoo as the only east coast zoo with polar bears too doesn’t it?
True, I was just thinking of the states touch the Atlantic (ie. Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island). And both Pittsburgh and Seneca Park have a single, elderly female.
It's sad how rare they are in the Eastern US. I live in MA, and Baltimore was the closest zoo to me with Polar Bears. Seneca Park is a similar distance as well. I saw the polar bear at Buffalo Zoo this summer and really hope to see a few more polar bears over the next few years while I still can. It's such a shame how rare this species has become, although obviously there are various challenges causing this difficulty. I really hope zoos manage to turn this program around and start to increase, not decrease, the number of bears in the country.
With one 24 year old at each their programs could end at any moment, and they aren’t likely to get new individuals. Unless kulu goes to Seneca park or the Detroit girls end up in Pittsburgh.Buffalo and Seneca Park are in New York, which last I checked touched the Atlantic...
I AM SO SORRY, IT HAS BEEN A LONG MONDAY WITH VERY LITTLE SLEEP. I PROMISE I HAVE AN A IN MY GEOGRAPHY CLASS. THAT IS PITIFUL ON MY PART.
What does this have to do with anything? They still have the bears.
Presumably not, they said around the start of breeding season this year that she hadn't even been introduced to Lee yet
Yeah you’re probably right, Nuka is unrelated to Neva and is much more genetically valuable than Nikita.
Nikita is his also the only cub ever produced by 26 year old Nan (WildxWild) so while his father is well represented his mother is not. I do hope Nuka is her mate though. He’s a perfect choice in every way for her.
This may be a weird question, but why are they moving Amelia Gray to Oregon? Is there a reason the sisters have to be kept together and that Maryland and Oregon can't both keep single bears? I get transferring one (or both) of the sisters for breeding, but if only one is going to a breeding situation I don't get why Maryland will give up both bears.
It is possible that she is being moved to Oregon for breeding, I know when it was originally designed it was hoped that the new exhibit would be a breeding facility. Amelia Gray may also still need to do some more growing up, Nora might still need a ‘bear’ teacher like Hope or Tasul, it is even possible that the strong program in Oregon was just allowed to have her so that they could have a second bear to do behavioral research on.
I agree with you, I would bet on Lee of Louisville and maybe Kalluk of San Diego filling the roles of breeding males in Oregon and Columbus. Maybe Kalluk staying on the west coast to breed with Amelia Grey and Nora (does anyone know if Nora is allowed to breed with her joint issues?) and Lee headed back to where he was successful in Columbus to be with Aurora and Anana.
Hopefully she is! We need every breeding female out there! Afaik, her leg issues aren't anything horrible and she seems to have recovered well from her her surgery which was well over 2 years ago.
