Get down to bear necessities

Wildlife: Polar duo on course for first date in mission to ‘save the species’

Scotland’s polar bears are preparing for a first date with a lot of pressure – to get it together and help save their species.

Preparations are under way for anattempt to breed polar bears at Highland Wildlife Park.

A crate has been placed in the male bears’ enclosure at Highland Wildlife Park by Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) staff with the aim of using it to transport Arktos to where the female, Victoria, is kept.

It is hoped the eight-year-old bear will become accustomed to the crate over the next month to enable his keepers at the park, near Kingussie, to take him the

“We fully expect to see them showing an interest in each other right away”

one-mile distance to her enclosure.

The efforts form part of the charity’s support of the European breeding programme for polar bears, who are currently listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

Arktos will live next to Victoria in a separate enclosure until their behaviour indicates that the signs are right for their first full introduction.

Douglas Richardson, head of living collections at the park, said: “The two bears will be able to communicate and interact through a secure large fence to start with. We fully expect to see them showing an interest in each other right away. As with any in- troduction of large predators, the process must be approached slowly and carefully, paying close attention to positive behavioural indicators, like vocalisations and body posture.

“Whether we wait until Victoria comes into full breeding condition before mixing them together will depend on how they react toeach other in the build-up to that key point.”

He added: “The birth and rear- ing of polar bears cubs will be of real value to the overarching breeding programme.

“As well as helping to highlight the plight of polar bears in the wild, any cubs born in the foreseeable future will remain within the vital safety net of the captive breeding programme.”

Arktos lives at the park with seven-year-old male bear Walker. Hehasbeenchosento breed ashe is older and a genetically more important male. Now aged 19, Victoria arrived from Aalbord Zoo in Denmark last year and is the UK’s only female polar bear. She gave birth to cubs in 2008, one of which died.

In Edinburgh, Giant Pandas Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine) failed to produce a cub for the third time last year.

LOVELY COUPLE: Victoria and Arktos, right inset, have been charged with the task of mating up at the enclosure at Highland Wildlife Park and hopefully boosting Scotland’s polar bear population