An orphaned polar bear who was found wandering in the remote Prudhoe Bay area of Alaska has been given a new lease on life after being rehoused at Alaska Zoo in Anchorage.
Polar bear cubs usually stay with their mothers for up to two-and-a-half years but this one appeared to have been orphaned and was not learning any survival skills.
Biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were informed of the whereabouts of the cute cub and headed to the location to assess the situation for themselves.
After consulting with the Alaska Zoo veterinarian, the team made the difficult decision to remove the male bear, thought to be between 10 or 11-months-old, from the wild population.
Although it is not unusual for polar bears to become orphaned as mother bears sometimes die or become separated from their young it is rare for humans to find it.
A polar bear cub was spotted alone in the Prudhoe Bay area of Alaska. A team of biologists made the decision to capture the 10-11 month old male bear who was brought to Alaska Zoo
The zoo say the bear appears to be in fair to good condition and judging by recent video footage appears to be making the most of its new home rolling about in the snow and ice.
‘It’s really cool to see that he’s already playing,’ Amy Cutting, vice president for conservation at Polar Bears International, a nonprofit organization said to the Anchorage Daily News. ‘That’s sending a great signal that he’s thriving.’
The decision was made to bring the animal into captivity because the bear seemed comfortable around humans, which raised concerns about potential conflicts between humans and bears.
Once the bear was captured and found to be stable after a physical and visual examination, it was transported to the zoo in Anchorage which has the necessary facilities and experience to deal with the bear’s immediate needs.
The zoo say the bear is a little underweight at 103 pounds. It also has some small cuts on its upper lip.
At this time, the cub will not be on public display at the Alaska Zoo but a decision will be made in due course by the Fish and Wildlife Service whether to allow the public to come and view the new arrival.
‘The decision to remove this bear from the wild was not taken lightly,’ said David Gustine, the lead of the Service’s Polar Bear Program. ‘Removing a bear is not a good outcome for the individual or the wild population, but we felt it was the best course of action in this situation.’
The cub is in fair to good condition, but is a little underweight. Nevertheless, video footage shows the cub to be doing well in its new home
The bear will not be returned to the wild in the short term as it is too young
‘Our main concern is the welfare of the cub,’ explained Patrick Lampi, the executive director of the Alaska Zoo.
‘It had been observed eating a fox, and the lacerations on its upper lip are probably from that activity. Since foxes in the Prudhoe Bay area often have rabies, we have special extended quarantine procedures in place for this cub.’
Fox isn’t a great diet for polar bears which typically need a high fat diet such as that found in seals.
As for the future, the Fish and Wildlife Service say all options are still on the table regarding the bears options in the long-term.
Because of the bear’s behavior around humans and its young age, it will not be returned to the wild.
Although the first choice is for polar bears to stay wild, ‘we believe that modern zoos do provide a high quality of life for bears,’ Cutting explained.
The last time the Wildlife Service removed a polar bear from the wild was in 2013. Pictured, the bear seems to settling into his new home at the Alaska Zoo
Polar bears were listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 2008 due to the loss of sea-ice habitat
It is rare for the Fish and Wildlife Service to decide to remove a polar bear from the wild population. The last time this happened was in 2013, when a male cub named Kali was orphaned in Point Lay.
Kali was initially cared for at the Alaska Zoo and was later permanently placed at the Saint Louis Zoo.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has been responsible for managing polar bear populations in the United States since 1972 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and under the Endangered Species Act since 2008, when polar bears were listed as a threatened species due to the loss of their sea ice habitat.
The bear is not yet on public display but for now its future at least in the short term is secure
