A wildlife park in Yorkshire is now the largest polar bear centre in the world outside of Canada after the arrival of three cubs and their mother. They join four male polar bears already living at the park, which has been described as the polar bear capital of Europe. The 18-month-olds are triplets, which are rare for polar bears, and are settling into a new enclosure at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park with their mother, Flocke, aged 12.
Dr McDonald, animal director at the parks reports they’re settling in well, “One of the cubs has just been exploring the climbing frames, going up high off the ground, and they’ve been playing in the water a lot. They’re very curious and will probably get into mischief in the future.”
The family consists of Flocke, two boys, Indiana and Yuma, who are already catching up to their mother in size, and their smaller sister, Tala. There’s a debate about role of zoos and wildlife parks but the Yorkshire Wildlife Park has built a reputation as a leader in polar bear welfare conservation. It provides an excellent environment for the bears, which were moved from an enclosure in France. It’s a ten acre reserve with several lakes. The park hopes that the move will help in the campaign to ensure polar bears can survive and prosper in the wild.
Here’s a video from the Wildlife Park…
Readers will know that polar bears feature strongly in the tale as an iconic symbol of the huge environmental challenges we face now and in the future, so the arrival of the mother and cubs is especially curious. We wish the polar bears well in their new home and hope they help raise awareness on the cause.