The polar bear enclosure
The polar bear enclosure from
1999 is still among the world’s best enclosures for polar bears. It
is primarily designed specifically to the behaviour of the animals
and, secondly, it is adapted to meet the wishes of the visitors who
want to experience the animals in an exciting manner. The enclosure
has eight viewpoints for visitors where they can experience the
polar bears on land as well as in the water and underwater. The
viewpoints have glass windows enabling the visitors to get very
close to the animals. The water part itself takes up a lot of space
in the enclosure, which makes it possible for us to feed the
animals live trout, among other fish. This is a good activity for
the animals as well as a nice experience for the visitors. The
keepers often hide meat and lard around the enclosure in order to
stimulate and activate the animals, in which the land part consists
of rubble that provides the bears with a rich opportunity to dig
.
We have two enclosures divided by a trench so that we can
separate the males from the females with cubs and to make room for
cleaning. The stables are hidden from visitors, but life behind the
scene can be followed on surveillance TV next to the enclosure. The
enclosure also shows a fishing hut that looks like the huts on the
northeast side of Greenland. It is in this way that we enhance the
feeling of truly experiencing the animals as authentically as
possible. The enclosure is inhabited by three fully-grown polar
bears and one cub.
The fully-grown polar bears are:
MALIK was born in Aalborg Zoo on 19 December 2000.
Father, Nanok, and mother, Nuka, are both dead.
VICTORIA was born in Rostock Zoo on 12 December
1996. She came to Aalborg Zoo on 22 July 1998.
FELIX was born in Vienna Zoo 24 November 2001. He
came to Aalborg Zoo via Karlsruhe and Tierpark Nürnberg on 1 April
2008. Felix is the father of the famous Flocke who was born in
Nürnberg Zoo on 11 December 2007.
It has been a while since we have had cubs in the polar bear
enclosure because the zoo has been waiting some years to receive a
male polar bear, but in 2008 we welcomed Felix and luckily, he was
well received by Victoria and Malik. For many weeks, the virile
Felix did not do much besides waiting on and mating with the two
females but over the
summer,Victoria and Malik grew tired of Felix, which indicated that
they were pregnant.
On 7 December, Victoria gave birth to two cubs, the first cub
was born in the outside enclosure and was then carried into the
birthing cave that had just been completed. Cub number two was born
here. Unfortunately, one of the cubs died but the surviving cub is
very vigorous and healthy. You can see this yourself from your own
computer by following the life inside the birthing cave via the
installed web cam (follow the
birthing cave here). This is the first time that it has been
made possible to show live images over the Internet from a polar
bear’s birthing cave and it has been a huge success - in the first
month some 80,000 people from approx. 75 countries logged on to see
the new polar bear cub.
Malik has not given birth and since polar bear births normally take
place in December or possibly in the beginning of January she was
either not impregnated or she miscarried without the keepers
noticing.
The polar bear cub, which is
five weeks old (january 2009), is thriving and now weighs approx.
three kilos, which means that it has sextupled its weight since
birth. The cub is starting to become more active and has taken its
first steps around the cave. It is, therefore, uniquely possible to
see the cub in good form right now. Despite the fact that it is
Victoria’s first cub, she cares for it as if she had never done
anything else. Therefore, everything indicates that the cub may be
seen in the outdoor enclosure some time during the month of March.
When the cub was born, it only weighted approx. 600 g., but when it
leaves the cave after approx. 3 months, it will weigh about 10-15
kg. In the wild, the mother and cub will be together for 24-28
months until the mother is in heat the third spring after the
birth. Sometimes the cub is weaned off already in the second spring
or remains together with its mother all the way to the fourth
spring. In a zoo, however, the cub may follow its mother and suck
for longer periods than that.
Polar bears require a lot of
activity in order to not develop a stereotypical behaviour, and so
the keepers are always busy finding new and exciting ways of
keeping the animals occupied. They bury food for instance, grease
the rocks with lard or honey, or feed the animals live fish. The
bears are also activated by means of tyres, balls, and other toys –
polar bears are very inquisitive and playful! In order to keep the
animals on their toes, innovations are needed all the time and set
routines must be avoided.
Watch video clips with Felix playing ball here.
In the wild, polar bears primarily eat seals but like all bears, they eat everything, and in the zoo the menu also comprises fruits and vegetables, to where seeing a polar bear eating an apple or carrot is not unusual at all! Polar bears are primarily fed, however, horsemeat and lard.