Polar Bear Twin Dies

Last December there was a double celebration at Ouwehands animal park in the Netherlands when Huggies, the polar bear rescued from an ice floe in Sibera in 1994 gave birth to twins.   Polar bears often have two cubs.

The twins were named Walker and Swimmer and had been hibernating over the cold winter months since their birth.  Only last week videos appeared of the baby bears up and about and could be seen playing happily with their mother in their enclosure.

This week sadly one of the cubs was found dead.  The cub has been identified by the zoo as Walker, who was the larger of the two baby bears.  An autopsy revealed that he died from internal bleeding in his diaghram, although why this bleeding happened is unknown.

Polar bears are labelled as a 'vulnerable' species in the wild due to hunting for their fur and meat, as well as their paws, which are highly prized as trophies.  The species is now protected,  and carefully monitored.   Changes to food availability and habitat loss due to global warming are considered the bears greatest threat now.