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Polar bear mother Kolymana proudly shows her new cub as it leaves den for first time

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24 March 2017

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Polar bear mother Kolymana proudly shows her new cub as it leaves den for first time.' Picture: YSIA

Kolymana was only a little older when she was rescued by WWF Russia after becoming marooned all alone on a drifting ice floe in the Arctic. But she shows no sign of losing sight of her own cub, a rare captivity birth on 30 November.

The mother keeps her offspring close at all times as the baby explores the snow for the first time. 

The little bear opened its eyes 45 days after birth, and made its first step on day 53. In the middle of February it fell out of the den for the first time, but mother helped it climb back. It will another week or so before zoo experts can identify the sex of the bear. 







Mother and cub

The mother keeps her offspring close at all times as the baby explores the snow for the first time.' Pictures: Fedor Yakovlev/WWF Russia

The den was specially heated through the winter because of the harsh temperatures, as low as minus 57C, outside. Inside, it was merely minus 25C.

Zookeepers followed the Kolymana's progress raising her cub on CCTV cameras. 

Mikhail Stishov, of WWF, said: 'We are thrilled to see Kolymana - rescued by the Bear Patrol - doing so well and giving birth to a cub. Sadly she had no chance to survive in the wild.'

The patrol spend weeks searching for her mother and failed. To rescue the cub from a hungry death, the patrol team nursed her for several months and later transported her to the zoo in Yakutsk.

Zoo director Luka Safonov said that the cub's birth is only the sixth in captivity. 



Kolymana was only a little older when she was rescued by WWF Russia after becoming marooned all alone on a drifting ice floe in the Arctic. Picture: Fedor Yakovlev/WWF Russia

The cub's father is called Lomonosov, born in Leningradsky Zoo in 2012. In late November 2016, Kolymana hid in her den and did not leave. This is typical behaviour for pregnant polar bears, a few weeks ahead of giving birth. 

If the сub turns out to be male, he will be sent to the Khabarovsk Zoo. A female is likely to go to Leningradsky Zoo in St Petersburg.



Comments (1)

........ CUTE !!
Jocelyne, FRANCE
26/03/2017 14:33
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