Polar Bear Cub Watch

Milwaukee Man said:
Does anyone know if zoos are using that beagle again to try and detect polar bear pregnancies?
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Interesting question Milwaukee Man. I had forgotten about the beagle from last year. It would be cool if the beagle had some good news for any zoo.
 
I haven't seen any articles about Elvis the beagle this year. As far as I know, no zoo has confirmed a pregnancy.
 
I think it's safe to assume that Anana from the Brookfield Zoo is not pregnant. She's back on exhibit today.
 
Anoki the female polar bear at the Maryland Zoo was still denning all through January. I really had high hopes that meant she had cubs. But as of late last week, she is back on exhibit. The only possible females that may have had a cub would be Aurora (Columbus Zoo) or Nan (Toledo Zoo). I think it's time I just move to Winnipeg...
 
Maybe it's just me, but polar bears seemed to breed pretty well in the past.

So, why the sudden drop in cubs being born? Is it just due to mostly elderly bears consisting of the U.S. zoo population? Or is it due to bad luck with the tricky pregnancies of polar bears? Again, just odd considering the species seemed to breed like rabbits in zoos back then.

By the way, I believe Louisville Zoo has a young pair of bears; how long before the Zoo will be able to start breeding them?
 
Milwaukee Man said:
Maybe it's just me, but polar bears seemed to breed pretty well in the past.

So, why the sudden drop in cubs being born? Is it just due to mostly elderly bears consisting of the U.S. zoo population? Or is it due to bad luck with the tricky pregnancies of polar bears? Again, just odd considering the species seemed to breed like rabbits in zoos back then.

By the way, I believe Louisville Zoo has a young pair of bears; how long before the Zoo will be able to start breeding them?
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Nothing is official, but I've heard rumors about both young bears at Louisville. The male Siku is rumored to go to Lincoln Park Zoo when that exhibit opens and mate with Anana. Qannik, the female is rumored to go to Saint Louis Zoo to mate with Kali since they both have wild genes. In my opinion, you get more diversity if both mate with captive polar bears. That would spread out both of their wild genes. Anyway, I am not sure what will happen because then Louisville Zoo will only have brown bears for this brand new exhibit.

Here is the break down of polar bears in zoos and issues with breeding in 2015:

ABQ Bio Park: Neutered brothers.
Alaska Zoo: Can mate, but female was on birth control before (possible side effects).
Brookfield Zoo: Together again, very affectionate to each other (this will be last season together if female returns to Buffalo in summer).
Bronx Zoo: Lone senior bear and neutered.
Buffalo Zoo: Two cubs, both unable to mate yet (male moving to St. Louis)
Cincinnati Zoo: To mate again, possible A.I. with Hudson’s sperm. Male looks as female as a companion, not a mate.
Columbus Zoo: Nanuq is getting old, this would probably be last year to mate.
Detroit Zoo: To mate (younger pair)
Denver Zoo: To mate (few years together, no results).
Henry Doorly Zoo: Lone senior bear.
Hogle Zoo: Lone female bear.
Indianapolis: Lone senior bear.
Louisville Zoo: Juveniles only.
Kansas City: Berlin (f) may be too old.
Memphis Zoo: To mate (few years together, no results).
Milwaukee Zoo: Lone female.
North Carolina Zoo: Lone female bear.
Oregon Zoo: Male neutered and they’re siblings.
Pittsburgh Zoo: To mate (few years, no results with any females hes mated with)
Philadelphia Zoo: Two female senior bears.
Point Defiance Zoo: All males & neutered.
Maryland Zoo: To mate.
San Diego Zoo: Together now and mentioned of them together for mating season, but SSP recommended year off and testing on male. Sister polar bear is not recommended to mate.
San Francisco: Two female senior bears.
Sea World San Diego: Females taking year off.
Seneca Park Zoo: Aurora may be too old.
St. Como Zoo: Neutered males and cub siblings.
Toledo Zoo: Marty to breed with Nan and Crystal.

So mostly the case is we have a lot of older bears, and a lot of males were sterilized in the 90s. Females are getting up their in age never having a cub so there's a higher chance they will not get pregnant ever. The sad thing is exhibits are being renovated with maternity dens to make them feel more comfortable. Hopefully when Alaska Zoo completes their renovation and they are able to house orphaned cubs, the captive US population can slowly increase again. The Toledo Zoo and the Buffalo Zoo are the only zoos in the past decade, maybe a little less time than that, that have had cubs.
 
Up here in Canada there were no cubs born but three bears joined the population. St. Felicien picked up a 6 year old female Milak from Europe while Assiniboine took in orphans Blizzard and Star bringing the total of Canadian bears up to 16.

Breeding for next year...

Assiniboine: All 7 bears are too young to breed.
Aquarium du Quebec: Eddy and Taiga will be bred. Taiga is just entering maturity.
Cochrane: Inukshuk is probably about to be sent back to Toronto to breed. Ganuk has no mate.
St. Felicien: Yelle will probably breed with Aisaqvak and Milak who is just old enough to breed.
Toronto: Humphrey is headed to Assiniboine to make room for Inukshuk's return from Cochrane to breed with Nikita and Aurora.
 
It's the start of denning season for polar bears! Here's a list of potential zoos that may see cubs soon:

Alaska Zoo: No success in the past though.
Buffalo Zoo: I believed Anana mated with Hudson in Chicago this year. She is quite plump, but with the current zoo move, I wouldn't be surprised if it caused her stress and she reabsorbed the cub.
Cincinnati Zoo: No success in the past.
Columbus Zoo: With cub borns last year (unfortunately none survived), I am counting on this pairing again.
Detroit Zoo: Younger pair, they have greater potential.
Denver Zoo: No success in past.
Memphis Zoo: No success in past.
Pittsburgh Zoo: No success in past.
Maryland Zoo: Breeding often in spring. This month she has been given the option to den.
San Diego Zoo: Not sure if mating occurred with nonrelated bears.
Seneca Park Zoo: Allowed access to den, but with her age, it's doubtful.
Toledo Zoo: Success in the past.
 
In Canada there are 5 potential litters.

Toronto: Both females bred but only Aurora has reproduced.
St. Felicien: New pairings with two potential mothers, one experienced while the other is just entering maturity.
Aquarium du Quebec: New pair with a recently matured female.

Canada has already added another bear this year bringing the total to 17 (all breeders or potential breeders) with the addition of two year old Henry to Cochrane, from Sea World Australia.
 
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