North American Polar Bear Population 2022

You’re right that is one of the biggest problems right now. Them not being accredited makes it more difficult for two of only four proven females in the country to get a mate. And so far Lee has not returned, probably because of this…

 

Doesn't the AZA reserve the right to take back the Polar Bears though? Why wouldn't the SSP take this option if its proving detrimental to the breeding program?

 

Wouldn't Nuniq be less closely related to Hope at Brookfield than she is to Hudson, her current mate?

 

I would say Hope is just as closely related to Hudson as she is to Nuniq. Hudson is her uncle (father Marty’s full brother) while Nuniq is her nephew (full sister Aurora’s son).

 

Yes, but Columbus doesn’t own Lee as far as I know. It should be Seneca park, maybe Denver.

 

What I meant was couldn't the AZA request Columbus' two girls back? That way they could go breed at other institutions.

 

That isn’t a bad point, but only Toledo or Brookfield would still probably have any claim to the girls and neither has room for two more breeding females.

 

Columbus plans on rejoining the AZA, right? Wouldn't they still be allowed to participate?
(How would this work with bonobos, as well? There wouldn't be anywhere for all of Columbus Zoo's bonobos to go!)

 

Yes, Columbus does want to rejoin. I have a feeling that’s why Lee isn’t with a new female this year. They’re probably waiting for next year for his lady friends to be available again. Nothing is set in stone with SSPs though. Alaska received cranbeary for breeding even though they aren’t AZA.

 

Just because a zoo isnt in the AZA right now doesnt mean animal transfers wont happen. Just makes them trickier based on the rules of the zoo that owns the animals. Toronto suffered a fair bit when it came to transfers during its time out but it didn't bring a total halt to transfers. The SSPs were recommending transfers still because Toronto had valuable animals that they wanted to be bred. Trouble came when the owning zoo had rules against transferring animals to a non accredited zoo. So in Columbus's case sometimes the SSP might be the problem but sometimes it might be the other zoos. Hard to say definitely the problem in this case.

 

Anana will be sent to Memphis. Aurora will be bred to Lee. They want to wait for re-accreditation before breeding, though.

 

Source? Will this leave Memphis with three bears or is their female leaving to another zoo also?

 

In sad news 26 year old, Blizzard has died at the Point Defiance zoo. He was their last polar bear and no official announcement was released about acquiring any bears to replace him. He was tied with Neil of Como park zoo as the oldest male polar bear in the United States and the roughly the 3rd oldest polar bear overall.

Remembering Blizzard - Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

This makes Tacoma the 4th facility in the last year to lose their final polar bears.

 

It's disheartening to see so many facilities ceasing to hold Polar bears, especially those who intend to make it a permanent phase out.

The senseless rule regarding not breeding wild sourced Polar bears has been a huge hindrance to the breeding programme and with fewer holders, the population will become increasingly inbred. I really feel as if there should be an opportunity for zoos to apply for an exemption to this restriction.

 

I don't think any place has intended to make it a permanent phase out, it's just the result of not having bears available/current laws. Point Defiance has had polar bears since the 1940s and have a whole section of the zoo devoted to the species (like Maryland and several others that have recently lost their last ones). I know Maryland would LOVE to have more, but it's a very large exhibit space to maintain and leave empty on the hope that one day, years from now, one becomes available.

 

I think it is possible though that young bears (like Astra and Laerke this year) who need to leave their mothers but aren’t appropriate for breeding yet may soon become the only real options for places like Maryland and Point defiance. They have strong reputations with housing bears, and many zoos would prefer to wait two or three years for a sexually mature bear than one or two young ones that are neither full size nor fully socialized.

That being said we’ve seen males like Nuniq and what will realistically be Kulu in a few years go off to serve as replacements for older bears because they are socialized but one mates are available. Bo at Henry Vilas would be an example of this either way. Either he goes to Maryland, point defiance, or Seneca park as a replacement for an elderly/deceased bear or he stays at Henry Vilas where he would ultimately replace 23 year old, Berit.

 

Ideally the SSP would send Kulu to either Point Defiance or Maryland. There's really no reason to have three bears at Como Park Zoo, especially when there are multiple zoos with empty Polar Bear exhibits. Why was Como selected as the new home for Kulu?

 

As an outsider I can only see three reasons: Kulu required further socializing so Nan was chosen to be his companion, Como expect both of their bears to pass soon and so he was brought in to take their place, and most importantly they have a staff member with considerable sway in SSP recommendations…

 

In regards to your third point, I just checked the AZA site and the Program Leaders for the SSP are from Oregon Zoo and Como Park Zoo.

 

Neil and Nanuyaak are 27 and 28 years old, which means they are quite elderly, and zoos are eliminating Polar Bears by death usually and I don't think Como Park Zoo wants to eliminate Polar Bears.