Paw-sitive for INUKA at the Singapore Zoo

First polar bear born in the tropics undergoes annual health-check.
 
As Inuka, Singapore Zoo’s 22 year old polar bear entered his senior years, Singapore Zoo’s vet team performed a health check on him under general anesthesia on 9 October 2013. The first polar bear to be born in the tropics was found to be in general good health for his age. He currently measures 2.5m from nose to tail, and weighs 532kg.

The hour-long medical examination included dental, aural and paw checks. Blood results show no abnormality in his kidneys and liver. There are some warty growths on the underside of his tongue, and a biopsy has been done to confirm if they are benign and can be left alone. Inuka’s teeth also needed some attention, which was to be expected at his age. X-rays of his lower limbs confirmed what his vets have suspected for some time; that he has mild arthritis on his ankle and right wrist joints. The vets will prescribe medications as required, to manage his arthritis.

After the examination, Inuka was revived with a reverse sedative and allowed to recuperate in his den. Within two days, he was back to basking in his ice cave and in no time was paddling in his pool, at Singapore Zoo’s Frozen Tundra.

 

Dead polar bear Sheba lives on in Singapore Zoo as body preserved as exhibit

Mummy lives!

In death, as in life, Singapore Zoo's beloved polar bear Sheba will continue to enchant thousands of children each year.

The bear made its first appearance at the zoo yesterday, since its body was preserved by a taxidermist after it died of old age last November.

This Friday and Saturday, visitors can get up close to it as part of the zoo's Children's Day activities. Show-and-tell sessions will be held thrice each day. They are free to the public with admission to the zoo.

I seriously hope they wouldn't do that for MM Lee too.

CELEBRATE CHILDREN’S DAY WITH INUKA THE POLAR BEAR

Chill out in Singapore Zoo’s Frozen Tundra with the little ones this Children’s Day and enjoy a frosty fun time with a lineup of educational activities about polar bears. Pique your child’s curiosity about polar bears – the largest land predator in the world – in our ‘Snow’ & Tell session, and see the children go wild on a great seal hunt. To end off on a warm and fuzzy note, work on a beautiful ‘Happy Children’s Day’ card together for Inuka the polar bear!

Children’s Day activities at Singapore Zoo
Date: 4– 5 October 2013
Venue: Singapore Zoo, 80 Mandai Lake Road, Singapore 729826
Fee: Free of charge
Notes: Singapore Zoo admission rates still apply

1. Snow & Tell session
Venue: Auditorium
Duration: 20min
Time: 9.30am, 10.30am, and 11.30am

Discover how polar bears adapt, survive, and live comfortably in their cold environment in a Snow and Tell session. Participants will learn interesting facts such as the polar bears’ habitat, diet, and threats they face in the wild. Also find out how zookeepers at Singapore Zoo look after and engage our very own polar bear, Inuka. This talk is free of charge* and requires no registration. Simply follow the signs to the auditorium at the specified time slots.

2. The Great Seal Hunt
Venue: Frozen Tundra
Time: 10.00am to 2.00pm

Children get to hone their predatory instincts in the Frozen Tundra Great Seal Hunt. Participants play the role of little polar bears hunting for prey — hidden seal stickers around the Frozen Tundra exhibit. Follow the instructions on the stickers and mark out the specially designed Frozen Tundra map provided by Singapore Zoo staff. The first 100 participants to complete their map will win attractive prizes!

 3. Draw for Inuka!
Venue: Frozen Tundra
Time: Zoo operating hours – 8.30am to 6.00pm

Have your child express their creativity by penning their own drawings of Inuka wishing him a Happy Children’s Day! Participants can bring their drawings when visiting the Zoo and their work will possibly be displayed at the Frozen Tundra exhibit. A drawing corner and drawing materials will be available for children who wish to draw at the Zoo itself.

WRS not acquiring new polar bears

The Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) has released a statement on Thursday saying that it does not intend to acquire new polar bears, despite a press release issued to local media on Aug 21, 2013 claiming that the Singapore Zoo will receive a polar bear cub as part of a "corporate gifting scheme".

WRS told AsiaOne that it is "not aware of this (corporate gifting) arrangement, and has not been approached by any of the parties mentioned".

Following the open of the Frozen Tundra, WRS said that there have been several enquiries from various stakeholders on whether more polar bears will be added to the park's collection as companions to Inuka.

Inuka, the first polar bear born in the tropics, moved into the new 2,700 sq m Frozen Tundra exhibit at the Singapore Zoo on May 29, 2013.

WRS said that it is currently "not actively seeking to acquire new polar bear".

"Polar bears are solitary animals by nature. Inuka's new habitat features a spacious outdoor area with multiple substrate types for him to dig and play in, a large pool, and in addition our keepers engage the bear with enrichment activities to keep him suitably stimulated," WRS added.

Here is the earlier press release issued by Gazprom on Aug 21:

The City of Singapore will soon be getting a new polar bear cub for the Zoo, courtesy of Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell.

"The polar bear is a symbol of strength and purity," said Timur Grigolyuk, Director of Strategic Partnerships for Gazprom, Russia's largest gas company. "Like Russian oil and gas, she is a precious resource that we can share with all the world."

Gazprom and Shell are relocating polar bears to ten cities around the world. They are doing this as part of a new business partnership which will see them drill for oil in the Russian Arctic, which is losing sea ice. The companies distributed a video news release on their website explaining the process after the first polar bear was gifted to the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Moving polar bears also makes sense because polar bears have become a problem in the Arctic. Although "Arctic" means "near bear" in Greek, polar bears are today in conflict with the oil extraction industry.

"Singapore must be Arctic, not Antarctic," said Grigolyuk. "Children are very happy with bears, and we want Singapore to have maximum happiness."

Find a mate for remaining polar bear
Nov 19, 2012

I AM saddened by the death of 35-year-old Sheba, our much-beloved polar bear ("Zookeeper recalls Sheba's last days"; last Saturday).

The polar bear exhibit has been my favourite whenever I visit the zoo, and I usually spend a longer time there than at the other enclosures.

Viewing the polar bears at close range brought me much joy.

Where once there were three, there is now only one.

Sheba's son, Inuka, may be going to its new home at the River Safari, but a lone polar bear can present a forlorn sight.

I hope there are plans to find Inuka a mate to once again start the family cycle.

Bennie Cheok

Polar Bear Inuka moves into new Frozen Tundra Exhibit

AS THE first polar bear born in the tropics, Inuka has never experienced life on the frozen Arctic tundra.

Yet the 570kg furry giant's new home is perhaps the next best thing.

The $8 million Singapore Zoo enclosure is about the size of 2 1/2 basketball courts - four times bigger than the previous one.

And it is modelled on the natural environment of the Arctic, with a large pool, waterfall and an ice cave where the 22-year-old bear can rest. Called Frozen Tundra, the 2,700 sq m exhibit also includes two separate sections housing raccoon dogs and wolverines, both of which are native to sub-Arctic environments.

Inuka moved in on Wednesday.

The zoo came up with the idea of creating a new habitat in 2006. It was designed to give the Singapore-born bear - whose mother, Sheba, died last November - more space to move around, while offering the public a glimpse of the Arctic world.

"In the past, visitors wanted the animals as close to them as possible," said Wildlife Reserves Singapore director of exhibit design Cham Tud Yinn. "But as they become more educated, they appreciate the fact that animals need privacy and space."

He added that visitors may not be able to get quite as close to Inuka as they would like. However, the exhibit has more glass panels through which to view the spectacular creature.

Native to the Arctic Circle, polar bears are the world's largest land carnivores. Adult males can weigh up to 700kg. But global warming has pushed back the sea ice, shrinking their hunting grounds and cutting off their sources of food.

If global temperatures continue to rise, polar bears may become extinct within a hundred years.

The Frozen Tundra is open every day from 8.30am to 6pm.

Inuka was adopted at birth in 1990 by the SPH Foundation, the charitable arm of Straits Times' parent company Singapore Press Holdings. Its chairman, Dr Lee Boon Yang, was the guest of honour at a ceremony yesterday to mark the foundation's decision to adopt the Amazon Flooded Forest at the River Safari. This means it will sponsor the exhibit by making a donation to zoo owner Wildlife Reserves Singapore every year.

"SPH Foundation has been a long-time partner of Wildlife Reserves Singapore in supporting wildlife conservation," said Dr Lee. He added that it also sponsors the High Flyers Show at Jurong Bird Park and a conservation centre housing proboscis monkeys at the zoo.

Zoo gets a new baby Polar Bear

It may have been the most anticipated package ever delivered to the Buffalo Zoo: an orphaned polar bear cub that arrived 15 May 2013 from Alaska and will spend the summer with another cub born six months ago.

Kali arrived aboard a UPS flight at Buffalo Niagara International Airport shortly before 5:30 a.m., ending a 14-hour trip that was set in motion in March when a hunter in Alaska realized an adult female bear he'd killed was nursing.

"He followed the tracks back to the den, crawled down inside, found a cub, pulled it out, put it in his coveralls, rode it back into Point Lay and then got hold of U.S. Fish and Wildlife," said Patrick Lampi, executive director of the Alaska Zoo, which has cared for the bear since.

Subsistence hunting is allowed in the area, but hunters aren't allowed to shoot females with cubs, Lampi said after accompanying the cub to Buffalo.

Called Kali after the Inupiat name for Point Lay, the male cub now weighs 65 pounds and is estimated to be just less than 5 months old. It would have been unable to care for itself in the wild, experts said. Young polar bears stay with their mothers for about 2 years.

In Buffalo, it will slowly be introduced to Luna, a female polar bear born Nov. 27 that has become a visitor favorite and the face of an $18 million fundraising campaign for a planned Arctic exhibit and new zoo entrance. Experts said both cubs will benefit from interacting with each other rather than only human caretakers.

A few hours after Kali's arrival, the cubs were in adjacent dens, able to smell and hear each other but prevented by a solid barrier from visual and physical contact. The next step will be to replace the barrier with mesh.

"Then they can have some limited physical contact, visual contact," zoo president Donna Fernandes said. "If that goes well and they're spending lots of time near each other by the mesh barrier and showing interest, then we can gradually open it up a little bit, give them room for a paw to go through.

"If they're not swiping at each other and it looks good, we'll open the door a little bit more, a little bit more, until they get a full physical introduction," Fernandes said at a press conference as Luna, behind a glass partition, dove over and over into a pond, pounced on a toy ark and ball, and wrestled with shrubbery.

"When you have adult animals, it can be more problematic," Fernandes said, "but I don't think we'll have a problem with these young guys. I think they'll be very excited to have a playmate."

Kali, expected to stay in Buffalo six months, made the 4,400-mile trip in a stainless steel crate, tended to by handlers given Federal Aviation Administration clearance to be on the cargo deck, UPS Capt. Jon Burrows said.

The logistics were hammered out over about 225 emails, Lampi said.

"Knowing he's coming here to be with another cub, that's just perfect," he said. "You just can't substitute being with a same species 24/7 so it'll be great for both of them."

The Buffalo Zoo hopes Kali will be a permanent resident, but the decision will be up to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Rest in Peace Sheba

Sheba, the polar bear that has been a key attraction at the Singapore Zoo for over 30 years, has died.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore, the parent company of the zoo, said it is extremely saddened by the death of its beloved polar bear, adding that Sheba lived to a ripe old age of 35 years, far exceeding the normal life span of 25 years for polar bears that are not in the wild.

She was under treatment since September for loss of strength in her hind limbs, but her condition worsened in the past week, and she had to be put down after a close evaluation showed that her prognosis was poor.

Sheba arrived at the Singapore Zoo on April 14, 1978, from Cologne Zoo, Germany, when she was just 14 months old, and she was the first polar bear to have successfully raise a cub in the tropics.

Her son Inuka continues to be in the Singapore Zoo, and is now 21 years old.

Once there were four polar bears in Singapore Zoo  — Nanook (Inuka's father), Sheba, Inuka and another female, Anana.

What will be the fate of Inuka? Lonely and Bored.