Zoo volunteer loses thumb during encounter with orangutan Volunteer loses thumb because of Bajik the orangutan.
A polar bear cub was born at the zoo on December 9th. (Man, do I regret saying what I said on the Henry Vilas Zoo forum now.) Polar bear cub born at Toledo Zoo
Since this new cub is her fourth, how many more do you think she should have before her genes get too well represented?
Yes. Every polar bear possible should be breeding. Even through at this point cubs from this particular pairing are fairly well represented, there is 100% a demand for cubs, if for nothing else to act as display animals.
Crystal has 7 cubs now. Anana and Aurora at the Columbus Zoo, Siku at the Lincoln Park Zoo, Sakari at the Buffalo Zoo, Suka at the Detroit Zoo, Hope at the Hogle Zoo, and of course the brand new cub. @Hyak_II is correct, the demand for more Polar Bears in America is large. Every cub counts.
I understand that. I guess I’m just slightly disappointed that there haven’t been many first time parents in the North American zoo polar bear population lately. (I am also quite impressed at how prolific Crystal has been.)
That’s not quite true. Suka and Nuka in Detroit Zoo had a polar bear cub back in November but it later past away. Personally we have to many old polar bears that can’t reproduce. I understand your point but that doesn’t mean their aren’t any first time polar bear parents producing cubs in the US.
There are quite a few polar bears that have just reached sexual maturity. It may take them a season or two to show any results. Also, males can take longer for full maturity.
