Things have been busy at the Scandinavian Wildlife Park, home to Siku, Ilka, the Twins, and even more happy polar bears. Biologist at SWP, Janne Tofte, is kind enough to send us updates on the new goings-on and future plans for these bears so that we can pass them on to the viewers. Here are the latest updates:
Mating season is now over so Ilka has moved back in with the gang in the summer enclosure- meaning she is back on live cam!
The breeding male, Nanok, has moved back in with his best friend Nuuk. Everyone is excited to hear if Ilka is pregnant again, but unfortunately we will have to wait until at least November to find out; right now it’s just a waiting game. Ilka is 21 years old and might be too old to even have cubs, plus there wasn’t any mating witnessed this year. But you never know – the polar bears might just have saved their “time together” for when they were alone.
The twins and Ilka have been separated for so long that she doesn’t protect them anymore, and they are on their own from now on. It even seemed like Ilka and the twins almost didn’t recognize each other when they were reintroduced to each other after being apart for 5 months. In the wild, cubs this age would have left mom, so this is all a natural process. In the next couple of days they will figure out a new order in the enclosure.
Thanks to Janne for her insight and please let us know if you have any questions that we can pass on!
