Polar Bear Cub Watch

blospz said:
Part of me wonders if any transfers will be altered now so one of the polar bears goes to Oregon to be a mate to Nora. Perhaps Berit who was to go to Henry Vilas to be a companion to the juvenile female there.
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If that happens, who will go to Madison to be companion to Suka (or Sakari, can't remember which is the female)? It will be interesting to see how they handle both the social needs of the animals and the demands of all the holding institutions to keep a polar bear.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
If that happens, who will go to Madison to be companion to Suka (or Sakari, can't remember which is the female)? It will be interesting to see how they handle both the social needs of the animals and the demands of all the holding institutions to keep a polar bear.
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I guess it depends on SSP and who they they think qualifies most to have a companion. They may side with Nora since she only met Tasul briefly and they'll want her to be use to polar bears to probably breed in the future. Suka has been exposed to her brother for the past few years so holding off some time before she gets a mate probably won't affect her negatively. We shall see.
 
That just leaves Talini to transfer to Lincoln Park Zoo to mate with Siku. However, I think they are waiting to see if she's pregnant this winter before they move her away. One article I read stated they would attempt artificial insemination on at least Berit, who is now at the Henry Vilas Zoo. Cincinnati Zoo will help with the procedure, as they did with Aurora at the Seneca Park Zoo a couple years ago. I'm surprised they didn't try it on Berit while she was at their zoo. However, I think last year they attempted to increase her hormone levels to appeal to the male (didn't work).
 
MidwestFan said:
Any news of any polar bear pregnancies or denning yet for this season?
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I was just about to reopen this thread, but I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested. Let's go through the list of possible pregnancies:

Brookfield Zoo: I believe I heard their female, Nan has been given access to her den already.
Detroit Zoo: Female, Talini, has been separated from male, Nuka and has been given access to her den. She has been on and off exhibit recently, but she has certainly has gained weight.
Denver Zoo: It was mentioned on here with a recent Denver Zoo review that the female, Cranbeary, has been given access to her den.
Henry Vilas Zoo: Berit was artificially inseminated. I am unsure if she has started to den.
Maryland Zoo: Anoki was artificially inseminated and has already been given access to her den.
North Carolina Zoo: The polar bears have been separated since the end of breeding season. Anana is not seen on exhibit often, always having access to her holding area, so I am unsure if she has started to den.
Pittsburgh Zoo: I am unsure if they mated this past mating season and if Snowflake has started to den.
San Diego Zoo: I am unsure if Chinook mated with the male this year, but they have not had much luck in the past.

Past mothers Crystal, Anana and Aurora (Columbus) are out of the running due to raising cubs during breeding season. Crystal is to breed with Marty next year and the Columbus bears will eventually need a new male when they are ready to mate again. The other recent mother, Anana of Cincinnati Zoo, did not mate this year. However, I am unsure if they attempted A.I. on her since Cincinnati is the one who has helped out with the other zoos' procedures.
 
In Canada...

Toronto is out. Inukshuk left before breeding season and while Hudson and Humphrey arrived they cannot breed with their mother and aunt. I believe the plan is still to send one or both boys to Europe.

Winnipeg may have the most polar bears in North America but they are all still too young to breed.

Cochrane only has males.

Aquarium Du Quebec has breed Eddy and Taiga who are now both fully mature so this year is fingers crossed.

Zoo Sauvage had bred Yelle to both Aisaqvak and Mikal so hopefully something might happen there. I do have my doubts since Yelle has not been successful with Aisaqvak who is a proven breeder.
 
Does anyone have any updated information about the status of polar bear cubs in North American zoos this winter?
 
Winnipeg has picked up two unrelated orphan cubs who are about 11 months old. A male and female.
 
This has been a very bad 12 months for polar bears, with animals dropping left and right. The deaths include:
  • Ahpun/Alpun (F, 19, Alaska Zoo, died December 31)
  • Tundra (M, 26, Bronx Zoo, died December 28)
  • Aussie (M, 32, Brookfield Zoo, died December 22)
  • Kobe (F, 16, Lincoln Park Zoo, died October 20)
  • Nanuq (M, 29, Columbus Zoo, died April 26)
  • Szenja (F, 21, SeaWorld San Diego, died April 18)
  • Uulu (F, 36, San Francisco Zoo, died April 14)
  • Rizzo (F, 19, Hogle Zoo, died April 9)
In the same time frame, 0 cubs have been born. The last born and surviving are Amelia (F), Nuniq (M), and Neva (F) at Columbus Zoo in November 2016. All of them were sired by the now-deceased Nanuq.

As a side note, it is interesting how the deaths were spaced out: four within less than three weeks in April and three in just over a week in December. Only Kobe's death was spaced out from the rest.

Another side note: these deaths left three zoos without any polar bears: Bronx, San Francisco, and SeaWorld.
 
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It will be interesting to see if they move the male polar bear from Alaska to another zoo. I believe an issue that pairing had was Ahpun, the female, was originally on birth control. She was taken off, but as seen in other animals, sometimes it has negative effects when trying to reproduce again. They could potentially send one of the Columbus cubs to Alaska, but to take advantage of polar bear breeding sooner than later, I was thinking maybe he could be moved to Columbus to mate with Anana and Aurora. Another possibility would be to send one of the females from Henry Vilas Zoo to Alaska. Suka should be sexually mature in the next year or so and Berit already is. Hopefully when these younger bears become sexual mature, they will have more luck because pairings have not been working in zoos like Detroit, Memphis, and Denver.
 
Unless a zoo like Henry Vilas, Denver, or Memphis has kept a birth hidden, there are no polar bear cubs born this season. Maybe we'll have better luck this time next year.
 
Canada has its first polar bear birth in 3 years. Zoo Sauvage de St Felicien's Aisaqvak and Yelle have welcomed their first cub together. It is the third survivor for Aisaqvak but the first for Yelle. Now that he's a proven sire that increases the hope the the zoo's second female Milak could also be pregnant although she's never had cubs herself. Just a very positive thing a young breeding age female has a male capable of getting the job done.

St-Félicien zoo celebrates birth of baby polar bear
 
I know this is already in the Detroit thread but good to add as well to the polar bear thread to keep up with the latest. Suki and Nuka had a female cub but she didn't survive the first two days. Good news for a young pair even if it didn't have the ideal outcome. Many cubs don't make it but at least the US has another pair proven capable of producing cubs.

Zoo officials respond after two-day-old polar bear cub dies at Detroit Zoo
 
It doesnt need translation. Name of a collection written in white font = breeding impossible. Blue = possible breeding situation. Red = birth in this winter season.
 
Checking over Canada has proven the list isnt accurate. Toronto is shown as breeding is possible... it's not when our males are the sons, nephews and brothers of the females. And Assiniboine breeding is out as they are neutering their males as they mature as painful as that sounds the Americans.
 
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