Polar bear twins have been reunited at a zoo after more than two years apart. Sisters separated
Female polar bears (Ursus maritimus)named Astra and Laerke were born at the Detroit Zoo on November 17, 2020. But two days later, Laerke was taken from the den she shared with her mother and sister due to a medical emergency. The caretakers had to feed her by hand and monitor the female around the clock. After a full recovery, zoo staff tried to gradually reunite Laerke with her mother and sister, but everything went according to plan.
Twin polar bears Astra and Laerke chase each other in their enclosure. Image courtesy of the Detroit Zoo
“The mother was very protective of her cub, Astra,and "behaved aggressively toward another cub that she no longer recognized as her own," Detroit Zoo officials told Live Science in an email. They added that Laerke remained in a separate enclosure during the reintegration process and the mother was "at no time at risk of injury."
The sisters play together in the pool. Image courtesy of the Detroit Zoo
Astra and her mother were transferred to separate enclosuresin January of this year after the cub reached the age at which polar bears leave their family in the wild. This gave zoo staff the opportunity to reunite Astra with her twin sister, who grew up with an abandoned grizzly bear named Jebbie.
After a short period of reintegration,When the sisters met and communicated with each other in neighboring cages, on April 11, zookeepers allowed Laerke into Astra's new enclosure. The reintroduction went very well and “the sisters seem to enjoy sharing the space,” zoo officials said. They hope the couple can stay together on a permanent basis.
The sisters play together in the pool. Image courtesy of the Detroit Zoo
On April 17, the zoo shared on social networkstouching photographs of Astra and Laerke playing together. They captioned the pictures, "Sister, sister - never knew how much I missed you." Zookeepers will continue to closely monitor the pair in the coming weeks. They expect that once the twins get to know each other, they will be able to spend less time together. Typically in the wild, polar bears keep to themselves.
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Cover image courtesy of the Detroit Zoo
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