A Visit With Siku and Friends

/ by Polar Bears International

Siku’s enclosure is three to four times the size of a polar bear enclosure at an average zoo. The enclosure that Ilke and her 6-month-old twins occupy is over two times the size of Siku’s enclosure. That is unheard of among captive animal facilities.

For those who are not familiar, Siku is a 1-½ year old polar bear that was born and raised in Denmark at the Scandinavian Wildlife Park. At the time of his birth, Siku’s mother was not able to produce milk and the staff at the SWP took over rearing the cub.

The park staff consulted with experts and implemented a careful combination of hands-on, hands-off development. It was important for Siku to have a mother figure and feel secure, but also to know that he was a bear and not a human. At four months old Siku began sleeping by himself in his own enclosure at the park, while polar bears in the wild stay with their mother for the first two years. A staff member stayed nearby at all times during those first months, but Siku thrived in the environment at the park and as a result developed into a healthy, independent young polar bear.

When he was big enough, he was moved into an enclosure adjacent to the other polar bears at the park. He quickly became curious and started interacting with the other bears from behind the safety of his own fence. He became fond of Smilla, a 22-year-old female bear who was brought to the park in 2011 from Budapest. In early April of this year Siku and Smilla met face to face for the first time and seemed to like each other’s company. The park has moved them into an enclosure together and their bond has only strengthened since.

Siku’s rearing has been a great success story among the captive polar bear community. It takes a dedicated staff along with an exceptional facility to hand raise a polar bear, successfully providing motherly nurture while fostering wild instinct. The SWP’s success is obvious when you see Siku swimming, playing, or calmly snoozing away in the grass.

Children visiting the park often wonder “Why are some of the polar bears not white?” This of course is because they love to roll in the earth to dry off after a swim, satisfy an itch, or even just to stretch after a nap, and the earth is either dirt or grass most of the year in Denmark. But the bears do not mind. They are very content, and it would be a big concern if they were not rolling in the grass and dirt, as that would imply that are not happy with their surroundings. It would also require an immense amount of energy to make ice or snow for the bears year-round, and would defeat the greater purpose. After all, the goal is to decrease energy use in order to save wild polar bears.

Read more about Siku and the Scandinavian Wildlife Park here.