North American Polar Bear Population 2022

Alaska Zoo - Anchorage, AK (0.1)
Cranbeary F (Kavek x Voda) b. 2001.11.21

San Diego Zoo - San Diego, CA (1.2)
Kalluk M (WILD x WILD) b. 2000
Chinook F (WILD x WILD) b. 1995
Tatqiq F (WILD x WILD) b. 2000

Brookfield Zoo - Brookfield, IL (1.1)
Hudson M (Aussie x Arki) b. 2006.12.14
Hope F (Marty x Crystal) b. 2015.12.03

Lincoln Park Zoo - Chicago, IL (1.1)
Siku M (Marty x Crystal) b. 2009.12.03
Talini F (Triton x Barle) b. 2004.11.22

Louisville Zoo - Louisville, KY (1.1)
Qannik F (WILD x WILD) b. 2011.01.10
Lee M (Yukon x Aurora) b. 1999.11.27

Detroit Zoo - Royal Oak, MI (1.3)
Nuka M (Kavek x Voda) b. 2004.11.25
Suka F (Marty x Crystal) b. 2012.11.21
Astra F (Nuka x Suka) b. 2020.11.17
Laerke F (Nuka x Suka) b. 2020.11.17

Como Park Zoo - Saint Paul, MN (2.1)
Neil M (Irsinak x Skeena) 1995.12.09 [sterile]
Nanuyaak (WILD x WILD) b. 1994
Kulu M (Lee x Aurora) b. 2019.11.28

Kansas City Zoo - Kansas City, MO (1.1)
Berlin F (Icee x Connie) b. 1989.12.11
Nuniq M (Nanuq x Aurora) b. 2016.11.14

Saint Louis Zoo - St. Louis, MO (1.0)
Kali M (WILD x WILD) b. 2013

Albuquerque BioPark Zoo - Albuquerque, NM (2.0)
Kiska M (Andy x Chinook) b. 1996.11.19 [sterile]
Koluk M (Andy x Chinook) b. 1996.11.19 [sterile]

Buffalo Zoo - Buffalo, NY (1.1)
Sakari M (Marty x Crystal) b. 2012.11.21
Luna F (Nanuq x Anana) b. 2012.11.27

Seneca Park Zoo - Rochester, NY (0.1)
Anoki F (Yukon x Aurora) b. 1996.11.20

North Carolina Zoo - Asheboro, NC (1.1)
Anana F (Yukon x Aurora) b. 1999.11.27
Payton M (Aussie x Arki) b. 2003.11.08

Columbus Zoo & Aquarium - Powell, OH (0.2)
Anana F (Marty x Crystal) b. 2006.11.25
Aurora F (Marty x Crystal) b. 2006.11.25

Toledo Zoo - Toledo, OH (0.1)
Crystal F (Orca x Saskia) b. 1998.11.10

Oregon Zoo - Portland, OR (0.2)
Nora F (Nanuq x Aurora) b. 2015.11.06
Amelia Gray F (Nanuq x Anana) b. 2016.11.08

Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium - Pittsburgh, PA (0.1)
Snowflake F (Herman II x Becky) b. 1995.11.28

Memphis Zoo - Memphis, TN (1.1)
Haley F (Yukon x Aurora) b. 2002.11.15
Koda M (Kavek x Voda) b. 2004.11.25

Hogle Zoo - Salt Lake City, UT (1.1)
Nikita M (Marty x Nanuyaak) b. 2006.11.21
Neva F (Nanuq x Aurora) b. 2016.11.14

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium - Tacoma, WA (1.0)
Blizzard M (WILD x WILD) b. 1995

Henry Vilas Zoo - Madison, WI (1.1)
Berit F (Olaf x Ulu) b. 1998.12.28
Borealis M (Maty x Crystal) b. 2018.12.09

Total US Population
17.23

 

Utah's Hogle Zoo welcomes new polar bear
I noticed something strange in this article about Neva’s arrival. This is the second article I have read that states that she and Nikita have a breeding recommendation but that “Neva and Nikita will spend the next several months getting to know each other, and it will take time for Neva to adjust to her new surroundings. In fact, it may be quite possible they may never live together.” Which is an interesting statement since they’re gonna need to do more than look at one another to have cubs…

Plus here is the only video I could find of her in her new home. She looks like she’s having a great time!
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/new-hogle-zoo-polar-bear-makes-her-debut

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wild born individuals are not allowed to breed, right?

 

Yes, any wildborn individuals rescued after 2008 are not allowed to breed as they are property of US Fish and Wildlife and would need to be given specific permission to breed by them. Unfortunately that has not happened for either of the bears that for those requirements. Bears like Kalluk at San Diego Zoo are allowed to breed though as he was rescued in 2000. Hopefully Kalluk can join the girls in Oregon or Columbus this season if he’s fertile.

 

Stopped by the Hogle Zoo today. Neva was out and having a BLAST swimming and playing with enrichment. She spent a lot of the time chasing the sea lion next door haha.
So far the zoo just said Neva and Nikita may be able to live full time together, but they anticpate not. They may only be held together during breeding periods.
Neva came on a breeding recommendation by the Polar Bear SSP. They said that Neva is still young and Nikita has lived with other females and not been able to successfully sire any cubs, but they are hopeful and will see what happens.

 

Welcome to Zoochat Noah! One of the most positive aspects of Nikita not having cubs so far is that the first female he was with, Berlin, was 23 and unproven when they were paired and the other female, Anana of North Carolina, had been on birth control previously so the chances of his bad luck being his fault are actually pretty low. Hopefully his experience combined with Neva’s youth and viability will enable this pair to hit the ground running.

 

Talini at Lincoln Park Zoo had another pseudo pregnancy.

 

Is anyone aware of breeding plans at either Oregon zoo or Columbus? I know Oregon originally built their exhibit with breeding in mind, but I thought I’d heard that the budget dictated otherwise. Columbus has half of only four proven, breeding age females, yet it’s almost breeding season and no male. Similarly, San Diego and Louisville have valuable males but no appropriate females.

 

With Oregan, earlier plans and designs seemed to indicate the inclusion of maternity yards, but it appears they were removed; so it looks like your right about that.

Colombus has great breeding facilities and definitely should be making the most of their two prime breeding age females.

In my opinion, San Diego should send their male Kalluk to Columbus for breeding. This would allow Kalluk, who is a genetically valuable male, to finally be given the opportunity to breed. San Diego would be left with two females and that would work better with the space they have.

 

I fully agree with your suggestion. Two proven females with an unproven, valuable male seems like his best shot at cubs (assuming he is still fertile). Even though Oregon has seemed to have done away with the maternity yard, I’m hoping it was just missing from the final blueprint. They have two very rare: young, viable females, with experience around other bears. Amelia was even mother raised and both have the same, wild born father. Oregon NEEDS a male this season. With the only available males being Lee, Kalluk, or maybe Nuka for one season I’d be surprised and disappointed if the girls stayed single this year. The SSP has been pairing up every bear possible recently and it’d be odd if the Columbus and Oregon females were still alone this season while there are valuable males available for transfer.

 

Hopefully Oregon has plans to breed from their two females. They have the space to accomodate a further male and then even cubs.

I’d assume Lee would remain at Louisville were he is paired with Qannik. A possible option would be (if Kalluk is proven to be a successful breeder), sending the Oregon girls one at a time to Columbus to get pregnant and then send them back to Oregon to give birth.

 

I recently found out that Kalluk is excluded from the breeding population because of USFWS/MMPA Restrictions, much like Kali and Qannik, so he most likely won't be sent anywhere for breeding. It was definitely very disappointing to hear since the population's gene pool is so small and a wildborn founder like Kalluk would be very beneficial to the breeding population.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if no cubs were born this past denning season, as all of the females have been confirmed to be back on habitat but Haley and Crystal. Memphis posted a video of Haley a week or two ago on their Instagram story so I doubt she had any cubs. That leaves just Crystal, it would be nice if she had a cub or two but if I'm being honest, those potential cubs would have absolutely no value to the population as they already have tons of relatives in the population (too many even).

I think there is a good chance Lee will return to Columbus to breed with Anana and Aurora this season, he may even already be back but just not announced. As for Oregon, while I do agree they should take advantage of having young breeding animals, I wouldn't be too surprised if they didn't recieve a male for breeding quite yet since both girls are still on the younger side and they may want to give Nora a bit more socialization prior to introducing her to a large male that could potentially kill her.

While I'm here I might as well write out what pairs we can expect to be introduced for this upcoming breeding season.

• Hudson and Hope (Brookfield)
• Sakari and Luna (Buffalo)
• Payton and Anana (NC)
• Nikita and Neva (Hogle)
• Siku and Talini (Lincoln Park)
• Koda and Haley (Memphis)

And hopefully the sisters at Columbus are introduced to a male this season as well but that's obviously still unconfirmed. If Crystal didn't have a cub this past season, perhaps a new male will be sent out to Toledo to breed with her.

While we do have a good amount of pairs that could potentially contribute to the population, after seeing what has happened the last few seasons with a similar amount of pairs, I doubt we'll be seeing much success this year either. We can always hope for the best, however!

 

It’d be nice if you were right about Lee, Columbus even hinted that a new male would arrive for breeding after Kulu’s departure. Maybe Nuka could be sent out on a breeding loan too, while Suka raises cubs. He could go to either Toledo or Oregon. You’re certainly right about Oregon’s girls being young but Hogle and Brookfield both had 5 year olds paired up in the last couple of years and Buffalo has had their pair together since they were 4. It’s not out of the question but they likely take a backseat to their older mothers and grandmother. If only these restrictions could be lifted so we could take one or two of Canada’s or Europe’s thousands of bears.

Also don’t lose all hope yet, many zoos wait until February to announce births, and so many females would have been first time moms this year that it’s possible that there is a hand reared bear or two like we’ve seen in Buffalo, Columbus, and Detroit in the last few years. I’m almost certain that there is a baby or two out there.

 

According to Toledo Zoo’s social media team Crystal will be returning to the exhibit this Friday, February 4. I don’t know what that means as far as cubs go. It’d be shocking if she didn’t give birth to even one cub. She’s not a particularly old bear, and Marty was still there throughout the entire breeding season last spring.

 

I asked a more specific question inquiring whether or not cubs were born (figured it’d be worth a shot). I’ve been left on read for over five hours. Most other zoos just said that denning was unsuccessful… sounds like we should receive some good news this week.

 

Nuka, a polar bear at the Detroit Zoo, is being moved to another zoo

Nuka at the Detroit Zoo is being moved to another zoo.

 

Very interesting news. He could be moved to Columbus to breed with former mate Suka’s sisters Anana and Aurora. Or to Oregon to breed with Amelia Gray and Nora, or perhaps even Toledo to breed with Crystal if she didn’t have any cubs this past denning season.

 

I would doubt Oregon, those girls just moved there recently; and if they were gonna be mates for Nuka wouldn’t it make more sense to send them to him at the largest polar bear complex in the country? Lee should be returning to Columbus as Louisville is so close, plus they aren’t AZA accredited right now. Nuka is slated to move to an AZA facility. Toledo told me that Crystal was set to return to exhibit this past Friday so I would bet she didn’t have cubs and that Toledo will be Nuka’s new home so that Crystal’s last litter isn’t with an Aussie x Arki male. That being said, it’s also likely that this is only for one year since Suka will be ready to mate next spring. I hope I’m wrong and while Crystal raises cubs this spring Nuka breeds with Nora and Amelia Grey in Oregon.

 

Nuka has successfully moved to his new home.

 

Eager to find out where he’s moved to.