Berlin’s
Zoo has a new baby polar bear, born on December 1, 2018, and is she
cute, or what?! She doesn’t have a name
yet; that will probably be decided in cooperation with potential future
sponsors. This is a very exciting event
for Berlin, because zoo breeding is a dicey proposition. The mortality rate for infant polar bears born
in captivity is over 50 percent and is even higher during the first ten days. Our baby’s mother, Tonya, lost two prior
cubs.
Perhaps the
Berlin Zoo’s most famous polar bear cub was Knut, born in December, 2006. His tragic story ended in taxidermy. Knut was abandoned by his mother shortly after
his birth, and he lost his twin a few days later. (Did their mother sense something wasn’t quite right
with her cubs?) Then Thomas Dörflein, the
zookeeper who raised Knut by hand, sadly died in 2008. Knut had an adoring fan club of news crews and
visitors, which brought the Zoo millions in revenue from ticket sales, stuffed
animals, and other memorabilia. I myself
have a Knut plush toy.
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| Knut Plush Toy |
2011, however, saw the unexpected end of Knut. He
suffered a massive brain seizure and drowned at the age of four in his pool enclosure in
front of hundreds of traumatized visitors. I made the mistake of watching the moment of
his death in a YouTube video. I really
wish I hadn’t. There are some things
better left to the imagination, or not imagined at all. Knut is now a real stuffed animal and can be
seen at Berlin’s Natural History Museum.
When I first read that this was to be Knut’s final resting place, I
found it macabre. But now that I’ve seen
him there, I think it was the right decision.
Knut continues to be an ambassador for the study and protection of his
vulnerable species, as no doubt will Berlin’s new little cutey pie cub.
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Knut
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Animal
research scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in
Berlin…announced…that they had finally solved the [cause of] death of the
Berlin Zoological Garden's most famous resident - beloved polar bear cub Knut.
[Their]
study says that Knut was the first known case of an animal dying from NMDAR
encephalitis, an auto-immune disease that causes inflammation of the brain. Knut suffered a seizure after the disease
caused antibodies in his brain to attack his own body, leading him to drown. The disease, only discovered in 2007, affects
about one in 200,000 humans each year, mostly young women. It can cause high fevers, hallucinations, and
epileptic seizures when left untreated.
The
high mortality rate for infant polar bears born in captivity makes it critical
that these animals continue to breed in the wild. The greatest threat to polar bear breeding in
their Arctic home is, of course, loss of habitat due to climate change. This year, for the second straight year, the Bering
Sea is virtually ice-free at a time of year when it should be gaining ice.
Arctic warming
creates life-threatening problems for the bears, as detailed in the Berlin Zoo’s
publication, Tierpark:
- · Polar bears need the surface of the ocean to be frozen so they can ambush their main prey, ringed seals. Catching these seals at their breathing holes is the only way for polar bears to get the fat reserves they need to survive.
- · Ice enables the solitary bears to find a mate. It connects separate areas of land, bringing polar bears together and giving them access to a wider gene pool.
- · Polar bears need snow to build their birthing dens. Warmer temperatures bring less snow and more rain and reduce the formation of ice. NASA satellite data show that, since records began in 1979, the extent of Arctic sea ice has shrunk by more than 12.8% per decade.
That's a loss of about 34 percent! A study published last year by the American
Meteorology Society, Explaining Extreme
Events of 2016 from a Climate Perspective, found that a marine
heat wave in the Bering Sea in 2016 cannot be explained without including
human-caused global warming.
The bears’ survival, then, depends largely on us. The Berlin Zoo is doing what it can
to ensure that polar bears survive not just in zoos, but also in their natural
habitat. Tierpark notes that the Zoo financially assists Polar Bears
International with its research into altered breeding and hunting behavior, the bears’ preferred retreats, and their migration routes.
The aim is to establish protected zones where the animals can find enough food
and raise their young without being disturbed. The particular research project funded by the
Zoo uses the latest camera technology to allow scientists to observe the inside
of polar bear birthing dens completely undetected.
Our new baby polar bear has already been filmed playing ball with Tonya in their den. She's a natural!
Keep it real!
Marilyn
Polar Bears could be too cute for their own good! The elephant in the room is, is it too late?
ReplyDeleteI sure hope not! This little baby can help us to help.
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