Polar Bears - California / San Diego Zoo

[Elaine L]

Rapidcitymbfan and Kinderchick,

I go to this site about 10 a.m., noon, 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. MST, and I usually always see Kalluk, the big male, or his sister, Tatqiq.  Also, sometimes when I look in about 9:00 a.m., I see Chinook, who wanders around the area by herself for while, then leaves, and the other two arrive.  I often minimize the camera to the corner of my computer, so I can see if anything is going on throughout the day with Kalluk, as he is very funny to watch.  And the new camera they installed looks for the bears, and is very close up, which is great.

[RCF]

Whenever I go to this site, I never see any action.   When is the best time to see some of the action, Elaine? I would like to show my Kinderchicklets.

Me either!  I would like to know also. 

[Kinderchick]

Whenever I go to this site, I never see any action.   When is the best time to see some of the action, Elaine? I would like to show my Kinderchicklets.

[Elaine L]

In the polar bear world at the San Diego Zoo, there is always news to report, as, of course, they are not going anywhere.  Kalluk, the big male, is being very accommodating to his sister today.  He has a favourite spot where he likes to roll around, on top of the big rock, and she came along and took it over with barely a "move over"; he was o.k. with this, and went and sat elsewhere, but then later he decided to go to another of his favourite spots, under the big rock, where he can keep cool, and his sister came in and took that over, too, so now you have the two of them crammed in there, and it is hardly big enough for one.  So far, he has been very good about this, as he is mostly a good-natured fellow, but as I speak, he is trying to get back his shady chair, and she will have none of it. 

I don't know if this is payback time for her or not, as yesterday, he pushed her very hard while they were play-fighting in the pool, and she was upset with him and left. 

The more I watch these bears, the more fascinating they become.  They have so much personality, a sense of play, and good and bad behavior - much like humans, I guess.

[Kinderchick]

Great news for Chinook but not so great for Kalluk, right now.

[Elaine L]

The Zoo does, indeed, believe that Chinook is pregnant, and expecting sometime between October and December.  They won't know for sure, though, until the baby cubs appear, they say.  But, as Chinook is pushing her mate, Kalluk, away now, and is not interested in spending time with him or with his sister, Tatqiq, they are pretty certain.  Of course, she also has a huge stomach, practically dragging on the ground.  But the Zoo says that this could still be, although unlikely, a false pregnancy.  Meanwhile, poor Kalluk doesn't know what is happening with his beloved, and is somewhat bewildered and abit sulky on occasion, it seems.  The poor guy is so out of the loop.  So, if all goes well, we will see his babies soon, and everyone is so looking forward to this.

[Kinderchick]

Lucky you, Elaine!  I tuned in today and didn't see any action. 

[Elaine L]

Our big male, Kalluk, had a good day today.  Seeing as the females are not always that anxious to play with him, he invents his own games.  So he chases the balls in the water for a while, then, as there is no one there to throw sticks for him, he throws them himself, and then chases them.  After carrying on madly with this for a while, he goes for a nap with a traffic cone, which he seems to have taken a shine to.  After a while, he heads off for the water again to arrange for his daily self-managed back massage.  He is always so good at entertaining himself, which is a good thing, considering he is in a zoo, he needs to be active, and his options are limited.

[Kinderchick]

You're right, Elaine. They are very funny to watch!

[Elaine L]

If you are looking for a laugh a day, watch these polar bears regularly.  They have some sense of humor, and they sure like to play.  For example, one of the females doesn't like to get wet, so she will hang over the rock ledge trying to grab a toy in the water, which is not easy when you don't have really long arms.  Then the male, who loves the water, will come along and splash her while he is frolicking around, and she gets mad and leaves the scene, while he looks around as if to say "what did I do?" 

[Elaine L]

Well, they don't say anything on the site, but Miss Chinook (I believe) is either very fat, or pregnant.  I hope they will tell us soon if she is, indeed, a mother.  And this afternoon an interesting thing happened with her, as when she went over to the big screen that separates her from people, where she apparently gets treats from her keepers, she got tired of waiting for the treat and reared up and pushed the screen, which came loose; the keepers were right there to fix it, and I don't think it would have fallen out, but if it had, it is hard to say what would have happened.  The people on the one side could very well have been injured, and would have been scared, and Miss Chinook could well have been frightened or injured.  And she is not used to seeing people running around screaming, so I don't know how she would have reacted to this.

[Elaine L]

It is such a pleasure to watch these intelligent and curious animals; especially now, if the Zoo can confirm that Chinook is pregnant.  http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/blog/2010/07/13/polar-bears-%e2%80%9cwhos-who%e2%80%9d/. 

Polar bears like to move around alot, so the Zoo tries to keep them as stimulated and happy as possible, considering their closed environment, by hiding their food in containers in the water, and making them work for it. Right now, it looks like it is Tatqiq, the other female, who is sleeping under a rock, taking a well-deserved nap after all her work in getting her food out of a tight spot!

[The Peregrine Chick]

And for those of you looking for the link ....

San Diego Zoo Polar Bear Cam,
San Diego, California

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/polarcam/index.html

[Elaine L]

These polar bears at the San Diego Zoo are real characters:  yesterday, they spent an hour playing "I am King of the Castle", pouncing on each other on the rock in the middle of the pool; of course, someone has to leave, as both can't fit on there, but they have each figured out how to be the owner of this rock for a short time, anyway;  anyone watching them would be able to see that they have what we call, in human terms, a great sense of humor.