On November 6th, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium welcomed two, tiny new additions: two polar bear cubs, born to 8-year-old Aurora.
Sadly, one of the twin cubs died soon after the birth. Zoo officials are calling themselves "cautiously optimistic" about the remaining cub's chances of survival, now that the 1.5 lbs female is in their care.
Aurora gradually stopped taking care of the baby after the first cub's passing. Many are suggesting that the mother's depression over the loss over her baby was preventing her from taking care of the second cub. Others say that the polar bear sensed something wrong with the baby. Whatever the reason, Aurora began taking breaks from caring for her, and when those breaks became longer and continued throughout the day, zoo officials decided to step in and hand-rear the newborn.
At only a week-and-a-half old, she's being bottle-fed and looked after around the clock. She even gained 10 grams overnight!
Polar bears have the lowest reproductive rate of any animal, a female only producing about five litters in her lifetime. Often she will give birth to twins, although triplets and single-cub births are also possible. The survival rate for cubs in captivity in the first weeks after their birth is about 50%.
But hopefully, because this lucky little bear is being hand-raised by humans, she'll survive and thrive. If she does, she'll be the Columbus Zoo's first bear in 27 years to be born in captivity and survive!
Watch this tiny baby with her new human friends in the clip below!
If you think she's absolutely precious and hope to be able to visit her soon, please SHARE!
POLAR BEAR CUB UPDATE: The polar bear cub, a female, born on Friday, Nov. 6 was pulled from the den by the Zoo’s Animal Care staff Thursday afternoon after the mother, Aurora, stopped caring for the cub.Aurora began taking breaks from caring for her cub late Thursday morning. When these breaks continued throughout the day and became longer the Zoo’s Animal Care staff made the decision to remove the cub from the den and began to hand-rear the newborn.At this time the female cub is healthy and feeding regularly. She weighs 1.5 pounds and gained 10 grams overnight. Staff will continue to monitor and care for her around-the-clock.
Posted by Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on Friday, November 13, 2015
