The twins, now four weeks old, can be seen by the public as of this weekend.Continue reading
Polar bear twins have been born at the Nyíregyháza Zoo (northeastern Hungary). The cubs are healthy and visitors will soon be able see them, the zoo’s director announced.
László Gajdos said that the eleven-year-old female, named Snezhana, gave birth to the cubs in November last year, but the birth has been kept secret so far, because, typically, the first three months are the most critical period for the survival of polar bears. The zoo’s staff have installed a camera in the polar bear cave and have managed to record the birth and development of the polar bear cubs.
They are now so active that we hope they will survive and leave the cave with their mother in a week or two, and then visitors will be able to see them.”
said the director.
Gajdos noted that the public will not be without footage in the meantime, with the park having produced a two-minute compilation from the moment the cubs were born until they were eleven weeks old. The footage can be seen below:
In addition, the Nyíregyháza Zoo’s online platforms will show a part of the previous day’s camera footage every day, so that visitors can follow the development of the little polar bears from day to day.
An interesting fact is that in nature, pregnant bears retreat to their den in the harshest part of the polar winter where they enter a kind of prolonged sleep, during which their heart rate drops from the usual 46 to 27 beats per minute, but the body temperature remains normal. Here they give birth to their young after an average gestation period of 240 days.
Born in mid-winter, they weigh about 0.6 kg and are small and clumsy. They cannot see or hear and their bodies are covered with very thin fur. They remain in the snow cave for about three months in the care of the mother bear, during which time the mother lives on her fat reserves and does not feed.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Balázs Attila