North American Polar Bear Population 2021

No, Hudson and Payton, are NOT good options. Or Nikita, for that matter.

The whole point in re-pairing her with a new male should be to do someone who has no ties to the Aussie x Arki lineage. That way, down the road (realistically 1-2 generations from now unless new blood arrives), her hypothetical offspring and grandoffspring could be bred back to her exisiting grandcubs, as that would produce animals with a lower co-efficient of inbreeding, as opposed to if they simply went with another Aussie x Arki male.
 
No, Hudson and Payton, are NOT good options. Or Nikita, for that matter.

The whole point in re-pairing her with a new male should be to do someone who has no ties to the Aussie x Arki lineage. That way, down the road (realistically 1-2 generations from now unless new blood arrives), her hypothetical offspring and grandoffspring could be bred back to her exisiting grandcubs, as that would produce animals with a lower co-efficient of inbreeding, as opposed to if they simply went with another Aussie x Arki male.
Yes, you’re right, sorry I was just thinking of all the possibilities. I agree. The only males in the population that work for that are Kalluk, brothers Koda and Nuka, or most likely, Lee being swapped between Columbus and Toledo
 
According to zoo personnel, Anana in North Carolina is not likely pregnant. She isn’t even denning yet, if she will at all. They hope next year the pair will have a better breeding season.

On a separate note, does anyone have any confirmed information on denning this year (Other than Crystal and Anana of course). Hopefully Buffalo and Lincoln Park will finally see cubs from their girls.
 
According to zoo personnel, Anana in North Carolina is not likely pregnant. She isn’t even denning yet, if she will at all. They hope next year the pair will have a better breeding season
That’s unfortunate, Anana is getting up there in age and I’m starting to lose hope she’ll ever have cubs at this point. Fingers crossed her sister Haley has cubs this season at least.
 
That’s unfortunate, Anana is getting up there in age and I’m starting to lose hope she’ll ever have cubs at this point. Fingers crossed her sister Haley has cubs this season at least.
I’m with you, I’m tentative at best when it comes to her ever having cubs. If her siblings Lee and Haley are successful though she could still have a good deal of representation.
 
According to zoo personnel, Anana in North Carolina is not likely pregnant. She isn’t even denning yet, if she will at all. They hope next year the pair will have a better breeding season.

On a separate note, does anyone have any confirmed information on denning this year (Other than Crystal and Anana of course). Hopefully Buffalo and Lincoln Park will finally see cubs from their girls.
Such a shame I was hoping we could get cubs from Anana this year, but hopefully for the next denning season she will have cubs.
 
On a separate note, does anyone have any confirmed information on denning this year (Other than Crystal and Anana of course).
I’m fairly confident both Luna and Haley are denning currently because both Buffalo and Memphis did not mention the girls in their recent Instagram posts and stories for Polar Bear week recently. Usually Buffalo will say something about Luna denning but I’m guessing they didn’t this year because they don’t want to “disappoint” the public once again with no cubs.
 
I’m fairly confident both Luna and Haley are denning currently because both Buffalo and Memphis did not mention the girls in their recent Instagram posts and stories for Polar Bear week recently. Usually Buffalo will say something about Luna denning but I’m guessing they didn’t this year because they don’t want to “disappoint” the public once again with no cubs.
I got the same feeling from the posts, especially considering that Luna is the star of Buffalo and the only photo of Haley was from last spring.
 
I can now officially confirm that Talini, Crystal and Haley have started denning for the season! Hopefully these girls finally all have cubs. Haley denning is a really good sign as she hasn’t always done so consistently in the past and not every new pair (I.e. Payton and Anana) are even successful enough to den. Talini’s mate, Siku, has reached prime sexual maturity, having been 11 years old this past breeding season so chances of multiple litters are good this year.

There should updates on the other females shortly, but now we at least know about Crystal, Talini, Haley and Anana.
 
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I contacted Brookfield about Hope to see if she was denning and received this sorta vague response:

“Hi, Hope is out and about much of the time, but she has the option to go indoors so you never know when you'll catch her!”

I guess that means she’s not denning, but who knows. Hope-fully that’s not the case! I also contacted Buffalo but am still waiting for a response.
 
I contacted Brookfield about Hope to see if she was denning and received this sorta vague response:

“Hi, Hope is out and about much of the time, but she has the option to go indoors so you never know when you'll catch her!”

I guess that means she’s not denning, but who knows. Hope-fully that’s not the case! I also contacted Buffalo but am still waiting for a response.

Oh my gosh that’s crazy, I got almost the same exact response “Hi, Hope is out and about much of the time. She does go in and out so no guarantees!” I get the same impression, but I do know a few years ago Anoki at Maryland would go in and out of her den, granted she never had cubs.

I’ve also contacted Buffalo and haven’t got a response yet. I’m fairly confident Luna is denning this year though, the last picture I saw of her was from a month ago and she looked very well fed while she napped.
 
No zoo is going to reply with an answer to something like that. They don't want to fuel speculation or give people a reason to get angry (if there is denning but no resulting cubs), especially with such a popular species. If they want people to know about the denning, they'll say something on social media or with a press release.
 
No zoo is going to reply with an answer to something like that. They don't want to fuel speculation or give people a reason to get angry (if there is denning but no resulting cubs), especially with such a popular species. If they want people to know about the denning, they'll say something on social media or with a press release.
Actually Lincoln park responded when I didn’t even ask if she was denning. All I asked was if she and Siku would be on exhibit. And Memphis answered straight up. I think it probably depends on the facility, pair, etc.
 
Does anybody know if Laerke in Detroit has some sort of growth plate disorder or early nourishment deficiency? She and Astra had their first birthday today, and judging from pictures, Astra appears almost twice her sister’s size and has much longer legs. Unless Astra is remarkably large this size difference is very strange to me.
 
Bit of bad news, but According staff as well as a visitor who saw her, Luna is on exhibit and didn’t even show denning behaviors until mid November. Still hope In Memphis, Toledo, and Lincoln Park.
 
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