POWELL – It has been an emotional week at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium where staffers celebrated two births but were also mourning a death.
Two polar bear cubs born this week appear to be strong, and officials are optimistic about their survival. The cubs were born Tuesday to 9-year-old Anana, a first-time mother who’s caring for them.
See newborn polar bear cubs on the zoo’s Facebook page
Polar bear cubs have about a 50 percent survival rate in the first weeks after birth, so the staff is monitoring them through a camera in the private den. Zoo president Tom Stalf says staff are prepared to step in to provide care if needed.
“Polar bear cubs are only about a pound at birth – imagine a baby about the size of a stick of butter – and we are cautiously optimistic about their survival,” he said. “Our hope is Anana will raise her cubs but our team, who now have experience with the difficult process of rearing a tiny cub, are prepared to step in if necessary.”
Anana’s sister, Aurora, has had two litters, and the only surviving cub was hand-reared after Aurora started leaving her unattended. That cub, Nora (pictured above), was recently moved to the Oregon Zoo.
The father to all the cubs is a 28-year-old bear named Nanuq.
Elsewhere in the zoo, the staff was saddened by the death of Anakka (right), a male western lowland gorilla, who died Thursday after failing to recover from anesthesia after a routine medical procedure on Monday, said Dr. Randy Junge, the zoo’s vice president of Animal Health.
Anakka had a history of heart disease that was being managed with medication and he had been anesthetized for reevaluation.
“The veterinary and animal care teams have been providing him with medical care around the clock since the procedure,” Junge said. “Unfortunately he was unresponsive with no sign of recovery and the very difficult decision was made to humanely euthanize him.”
Anakka was born at the Philadelphia Zoo on June 1, 1985 and has lived at the Columbus Zoo since 1993. Median life expectancy for gorillas in North American zoos is 31.9 years of age, zoo officials said.