The Phoenix Zoo in Arizona has been home to one lively Andean bear, one of the few born in a U.S. zoo.
In an old video shared by the zoo on YouTube, baby Luka is seen playfully wrestling with her mama bear, Rio. Luka, the first cub to have been raised at the zoo, is hopping around and at one point even climbs onto Rio’s back.
“Even though their play can sometimes look a little rough to us, for the bears, it is completely normal roughhousing behavior,” the zoo explained.
Like many other mammals that love their offspring, Rio was “always very gentle, patient, and caring with her young cub!”
Luka, who is now 2 years old and will be moved to the Nashville Zoo, never ceased to surprise zookeepers. The rare bear was once mistaken as a male, since it takes over a year for bears to fully develop.
"Andean bear cubs’ genitalia are highly undeveloped before two years of age and it is extremely difficult to determine gender," the zoo says. "You cannot determine gender through simple visual observation. It wasn’t until last week when Luka underwent a routine examination and health evaluation that it was found Luka is actually a female bear."
Watch below and please SHARE if this duo made you smile!
