Hello bear
Meet the UK’s first polar cub in 25 years
THE UK’s first polar bear cub in 25 years has taken its first steps outside at a Scots wildlife park.
Mother bear Victoria and her three-month-old cub have started to venture into the Highland Wildlife Park outdoor enclosure to feed and explore.
And it means visitors could see the three-month-old cub from today – although keepers have warned it might only be out for short periods.
As mum and cub emerged yesterday, head keeper Una Richardson said: “That’s the furthest baby’s come out today. Every day it gets a little bit more confident.
“It’s starting to explore food, smelling what mum’s smelling, eating what mum’s eating. It’s had its head in a couple of molehills, which was very cute to see.
“It’s just a very healthy baby, growing every day and just developing more confidence.”
Staff at the park at Kincraig, near Kingussie, will only know the sex of the cub when it can be separated from Victoria for examination – probably next month or in May.
A list of names has been drawn up for when keepers find out if it is a boy or a girl but the shortlist is top secret.
The mother bear had been in her maternity den for four months before taking her cub outside. It was born in the week before Christmas, following Victoria’s mating with Arktos, one of two male polar bears at the park.
The birth of the youngster in December was confirmed by highpitched noises coming from inside the den.
Douglas Richardson, head of living collections, said yesterday: “The most important role for the cub at the moment would be as an ambassador for its species.
“We hope that with the popularity of the cub, we’ll be able to painlessly slip a lifestyle message in there that climate change is what’s driving the wild polar bear population towards extinction. People need to alter their lifestyle. Hopefully the cub will help us get that message across.
“From a longer-term perspective, there is the possibility that at some point in the future we may need to augment what’s left of the wild population from the zoo population.
“If we don’t establish a behaviourally and genetically robust captive population now, we will not have that option should we need it in the future.”
The cub is expected to stay with its mother at the park, run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, for at least two years.