Sea World has just posted this announcement (and a photo) on facebook: This must be the first birth of a polar bear in the country for a very long time, Taronga bred them in the 1930s, have there been any others since then?
There is very little publicity about this. I have not even herd it mentioned they were trying to breed or one was pregnant.
Yea, its certainly not been publicised, presumably they didn't want something to go wrong post-announcement. Jay mentioned in this thread http://www.zoochat.com/24/polar-bears-seaword-255658/ the possibility of breeding, but that was all I could find about it on here.
Just herd on the radio that she had two, but concentrated her efforts on one. Does that mean she ate one. They said she is a very good first time mother.
This must be one of the most significant zoo births in Australia since the first calf of the latest elephant import. It has been a long time coming and congratulations are due to all at Sea World who have been part of this journey. Fingers crossed that this cub will survive and thrive.
Sea World hasn't mentioned a second cub on their facebook page at all, just keep saying "the cub". So its pretty safe to say that if there was a second cub it dns, although I don't know if she would necessarily have eaten it or not. They also say the cub was born Thursday night (9 May) and that the father is Nelson. That's great that shes doing well as a mother.
Gratulations to Sea World Gold Coast from Switzerland! Great news indeed. As Steve said: Keep your fingers crossed for a succesful thrive.
This is Lutik's sister isn't it? I always thought her name was spelt Lia? It just said on the channel 10 news that they didn't know she was pregnant - they couldn't find any evidence on ultrasound! It was also proclaimed to be the 2nd polar bear born in Australia, the last one was around 30 years ago.
Yes, this is that animal, interestingly the spelling seems to differ in various sources, maybe it started off as Lia and became Liya? I don't think the last birth was 30 years ago, I think it was much earlier. Taronga had a cub in the 1930s, and I don't know of any since then (would like to though).
Here's a news article from back in Dec saying they thought she might have been pregnant: Sea World's possible polar bear pregnancy Local Gold Coast News | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Here's an article stating there were two cubs, but one died: Mixed emotions surround Sea World polar bear birth - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
I agree. I am really pleased for Seaworld. Just saw the news item on tv now. That and Emporer Tamarins at Alma Park. When the polar bears were first brought into Seaworld they had wanted to breed them. It took a while but here it is! Great work
An update from the polar bear den: Australia's Polar Bear, First Born In Nearly 30 Years, Opening Eyes, Growling (VIDEO)
A Sydney newspaper reporting on this stated that this is the first polar bear born in Australia "since the last birth at Adelaide Zoo 30 years ago". That's news to me! I was under the impression that the only previous birth in Australia was at Taronga in the 1930's. Does anyone know anything about a birth at Adelaide?
The polar bear born in th 80's at the Adelaide zoo, Aussie, is now living at the Brookfield Zoo where he has fathered many cubs and now is matched up with a new female.
to be specific, Aussie was born at Adelaide in 1985 and went to Brookfield in 1986 to pair up with Arki (herself born at Brookfield in 1984).