COLUMBUS – The staff at the Polar Frontier exhibit at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are celebrating the birth of a baby polar bear.
Female bear Aurora gave birth to two cubs Friday night but, despite her efforts to care for both, only one cub has survived, said Jennifer Wilson, Director of Communications.
Staff members are still hold their breaths because polar bears have one of the lowest reproductive rates of any mammal and the survival rate for a polar bear cub during the first few weeks of life is only about 50 percent.
“We are excited about this birth but we remain cautiously optimistic. Aurora and her cub appear to be doing well but since polar bear cub survival rate is very low we will continue to monitor the two around-the-clock,” North America region curator Carrie Pratt said.
Aurora and the cub are in a private denning area off public view where they will remain until spring. Disrupting Aurora’s maternal care was not advised, said Wilson.
Aurora and her twin sister Anana arrived at the zoo in 2010 when the Polar Frontier region opened. They twins are now eight years old and both have mated with the 28-year-old male polar bear, Nanuq, who arrived in 2012.
Zoo officials may be marking another blessed event before long. They don’t know if Anana is pregnant but say she is exhibiting the desire to den that may indicate it is a good possibility.
Female polar bears generally have their first set of cubs between the ages of four and eight years.
Pregnant polar bears den in the fall and give birth, generally to two cubs, in the winter. The cubs typically weigh about one pound at birth and grow quickly before emerging from the den in the spring, Wilson said.