UK’s rare polar bear cub makes a splash

AS THE UK’s first polar bear cub for 25 years, this youngster has already made a splash.

Now it’s time to explore the great outdoors and, as his first dip in the water with mum shows, everything is going just swimmingly.

While the chilly water could put off some animals, in these arctic temperatures polar bears feel, well, right at home.

Mother Victoria took her cub, who is about four months old, for a swim on their 4 hectare enclosure.

And like any mother taking their child for a swimming lesson Victoria kept a watchful eye on the cub at all times, guiding the youngster as they played in the water.

At one point, the cub gave its mum a playful bite on the neck as they swam together.

And with its wet fur sticking up, the youngster was left with a rather unflattering hairstyle.

Once they were done in the water, it was time to dry off and Victoria demonstrated how to roll in the bushes to get rid of the moisture from their fur.

Keepers had to wait almost three months to catch a glimpse of the cub before it took its first nervous steps into the snow last month.

It is yet to be named as keepers have so far been unable to determine its gender. The cub was the first in Britain since 1992, when a polar bear was born at Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire. The cub and Victoria, who arrived at the Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie, Inverness-shire, in 2009 share the enclosure with the zoo’s two male polar bears, Walker and Arktos.

A spokesperson from Highland Wildlife Park said: “We are proud to have some of the best and most naturalistic polar bear facilities anywhere in the world.”

The keepers had left the young family to themselves for weeks amid concern over the cub’s health.

At the time, a spokesperson said: “Polar bear cubs have a high mortality rate in their first weeks due to an undeveloped immune system and the mother’s exaggerated need for privacy.

“Any disturbance risks the cub being killed or abandoned.” – Daily Mail