Bear-y happy to meet you
Newborn spent months in intensive care after mother killed siblings
Lone cub who survived attack by its mother in October makes first public appearance at zoo,
A baby polar bear cast off by its mother following a surprise birth at the Toronto Zoo last October made its first foray in front of the public on Friday.
Considering the grisly fate of the cub’s brother and sister, the sprightly male’s healthy, albeit dirty appearance was nothing short of miraculous.
On Oct. 11, 2011, Aurora, one of the zoo’s two 10-year-old female polar bears, prematurely gave birth to three cubs. The births, two months ahead of schedule, caught zoo staff off-guard and in a vicious turn of events, Aurora killed two of her cubs, devouring one and reportedly skinning another. It died two days later.
Just 25 ounces at birth — roughly the weight of a basketball — the surviving cub was still attached to its placenta when staff rescued it from Aurora.
The bear received round-theclock care at the zoo’s Wildlife Health Centre, subsisting on a steady diet of milk formula and ground meat chow.
In late January, the bear — now a playful, pint-size, 37-pounder — was introduced to the outdoor polar bear maternity unit.
While the cub’s mother lumbers in a nearby enclosure, the two will never meet. The likelihood of Aurora attacking the little bear is too great, said senior veterinarian Dr. Graham Crawshaw.
“He’s been away from his mother since birth, so she wouldn’t recognize him as her infant,” Crawshaw said. “We couldn’t risk putting him back with the parent.”
The cub may eventually weigh more than 1,300 pounds. Polar bears, which were designated a “species of special concern” by Environment Canada in November, number around 20,000 worldwide. About two-thirds roam Canada’s northern regions.
Despite all the attention and monitoring by zoo staff, Crawshaw called the cub “independent and well-balanced.”
“He’s curious and sociable and can be quite lovable, but he does have a temper” the veterinarian said, add- ing that no one keeper spends too much time with the bear. “We want him to remember that he’s a bear and not a person.” The cub doesn’t have an official name and the zoo is running an online naming contest until March 16. Meanwhile, Crawshaw said zoo staff (not-so-creatively) refer to the bear as “Bear,” as well as a variety of pet names. “We call him some things, not always complimentary,” he quipped. On Friday, the frisky tot pawed at blocks of ice and chewed on plastic buckets scattered around his habitat, pressing his nose to the glass in front of dozens of zoo patrons. Eric Chan, visiting with his 3- and 5-year-old sons, relished the rare opportunity to see a newborn from an at-risk species. “They don’t get to see a baby polar bear every day,” he said.