On Friday, November 6, 2015, two polar bear cubs were born at the Columbus Zoo, to mother bear Aurora. Unfortunately one of the cubs passed away shortly after birth.
In a statement released today, the Zoo said Aurora “began taking breaks from caring for her cub late Thursday morning.”
As these breaks were monitored, they became longer and the Zoo’s Animal Care staff made the decision to “remove the cub from the den and began to hand-rear the newborn,” beginning Thursday afternoon.
The female cub is doing well, is healthy and feeding regularly, the Zoo said. She weighs 1.5 pounds, and is being attended to at all times.
Polar bear cubs are born small and delicate and have only about a fifty percent survival rate when being cared for by humans.
The Zoo now has four polar bears, the adult females Aurora and her twin sister Anana, male bear Nanuq, and the female cub.
Photos by Grahm S. Jones, courtesy Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.