POLAR KISS - Seneca Park Zoo - Rochester NY

Digital Photography May 2006

From the Zookeeper at the Seneca Park Zoo

We have two bears. The female is Aurora, is 16 years old. She came from the Hogle Zoo in Utah. She's had 5 cubs at Seneca Park Zoo. The first, Anoki, is now at the Albuquerque Zoo. She had twin cubs, Quilak and Sila, a few years ago and they are now at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. In November, 2002, she gave birth to twins, a male and female. The male died a month later, but the female (Haley) survived. She's very playful and likes to swim. Haley was moved to the Brookfield Zoo to meet her future mate. Aurora is not a submissive bear and holds her own with Yukon. Her favorite foods are fish, beef fat, fruits (apples and oranges) and vegetables.

Yukon, 16 years old, came from the Cincinnati Zoo. He was the father to all of Aurora's cubs. He has a great personality - very docile, easygoing. He loves ice cubes and also swims a lot (that's him in the picture). His favorite foods are bagels, beef fat and fish.

CHARACTERISTICS

The Polar Bear is considered to be the largest member of the bear family. A male is called a boar, a female a sow, young are cubs and a group is a pack or sloth (sleuth). Males can weigh 770-1400 lbs., be 8-9 1/2 feet long, and can stand 8-11 ft. tall. Females are somewhat smaller, weighing 660-770 lbs. A newborn cub weighs about 1 lb. They can live 20-30 years but only a small proportion live past 15-18 years. Smell is their most important sense for detecting prey on land. They can smell seals and carrion up to 20 miles away and can sniff out seal dens covered with snow. Hearing and eyesight are as sensitive as humans. A protective membrane over their eyes helps shield them from ultraviolet light and glare from ice and snow.