Dang, Yelle really got his act together this year! If only some of the un-proven males in the US could follow suit.
Have there been any cubs born this year so far? If not, are there any females that bred and are denning currently?
There have been no announcements of any births this year yet. Denning female polar bears: Anana (Columbus Zoo) Luna (Buffalo Zoo) Suka (Detroit Zoo) Possible denning/most likely won't have a cub: Anana (North Carolina Zoo) Hayley (Memphis Zoo) Nan (Brookfield Zoo) Talini (Lincoln Park Zoo)
Suka gave birth to two cubs on November 17th sired by Nuka! One cub is female and the other cub's gender is unknown. Two Polar Bear Cubs Born at the Detroit Zoo - Detroit Zoo
Ok so for this year we have a couple pairs that could potentially gift us with a cub or two. Not as much as I had initially expected but there’s still hope (jk there isn’t Hope as she’s one of the girls that didn’t end up denning disappointingly ). Six breeding pairs presumably bred this breeding season. Luna and Sakari (Buffalo Zoo) Haley and Koda (Memphis Zoo) Anana and Payton (North Carolina Zoo) Hope and Hudson (Brookfield Zoo) Crystal and Marty (Toledo Zoo) Talini and Siku (Lincoln Park Zoo) Of these six, Haley, Crystal, and Talini have been confirmed to be denning. Thanks to @Polar bear fan for contacting Memphis and Lincoln Park to find out about Haley and Talini. Sadly, it’s been confirmed that both Anana and Hope are not denning. Thanks @MeiLover for informing us about Hope and again thanks to @Polar bear fan for finding out about Anana. Now Luna at Buffalo is a mystery. So far all signs have been pointing to her denning but no actual proof. They never posted anything about it like they usually do and didn’t respond when I contacted them. I think they don’t want to get everyone’s hopes again just to disappoint them once again. Let’s hope this is finally Buffalo’s year. So these are the girls that have a chance at having cubs this season (in order of likelihood) Crystal, with the sire being the recently deceased Marty Luna, with the sire being Crystal’s son Sakari Talini, with the sire being Crystal’s other son Siku Haley, with the sire being Koda Crystal’s at the top, despite being the oldest, since she and Marty have been consistently having cubs every 3 years since 2006. Then the other 3 would all be first time moms so I just ordered them from youngest to oldest. Also, I have no idea what’s up with Canada’s population this year. Anybody who does, please let us know about it. Anyways, to conclude everyone have your fingers (and toes) crossed we get a couple birth announcements from these facilities in the next couple weeks and months!!
Thank you for compiling this list! Buffalo also never mentioned Luna’s birthday like they do usually, so I’d take that as another sign that she is denning off exhibit. Hopefully all four of those girls finally have cubs. It’s been a LONG time waiting for most of them. Plus Siku and Sakari have both officially reached prime breeding age and Haley and Koda are fresh AND took to each other quickly so I’d say chances seem good. Hope and Anana are not denning from their new mates so Memphis is really going in the right direction. Hopefully girlfriend number four is the lucky number for Koda and a new boyfriend is all Haley needs. Very excited for this season and next season. If we don’t hear anything during cubbing season though that doesn’t mean that no births occurred. While Columbus reveals births immediately, Toledo and Detroit for example tend to reveal births in February, while Buffalo didn’t announce Luna’s birth until like March.
Umm... Nothing I know of to report from Canada. Toronto isnt breeding all bears are related. Winnipeg isnt breeding, most of their males are castrated and Im not sure if they are allowed to breed since all are rescues from Churchill. Aquarium Du Quebec and Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat also out because the have all males. That leaves Zoo Suavage which I'm doubtful of because during breeding season I think both females were still with their cubs who have now moved on to the aquarium. More likely they will try to breed again this coming breeding season... why though because Canadian zoos are nearly full and there is no reasonable place to send cubs if produced. If that were the case Toronto wouldnt still have Hudson or Humphrey because they tried for years to get the boys to Europe to breed and failed. They also might have got rid of Ganuk who they own at Cochrane to free up holding space for more cubs born at the zoo.
