As of today, 23 March 2011, at around 8.30 a.m. the two polar bear cubs can be seen in the outdoor enclosure of the Tiergarten Nürnberg. When their mother Vera made it clear by fiercely scratching the gate of her stable and loud roars that she wanted to go outside with her twin cubs Aleut and Gregor this morning, the zookeepers cleared the way for her.
Polar bear Vera immediately went outside to explore her enclosure. She checked the enclosure for about half an hour while the two cubs remained in their cave. Afterwards, Vera came to collect her two cubs and after only a short time the twins dipped their paws into the water. Only minutes later they were inside the water basin and showed their excellent natural swimming skills.
The two polar bear cubs were born on 2 December 2010. The zookeepers left mother Vera and her cubs alone for several weeks. It was only in early February that the zookeepers entered the stable in order to feed Vera again for the first time. AS early as one week ago, the zookeepers noticed Vera's increasing interest in the doors towards the corridor leading to the outdoor enclosure. However, the polar bear remained calm and relaxed inside her box with her two cubs. On Monday, 21 March 2011 the little polar bears were successfully vaccinated for the second time, giving way to the first excursions outside which were to happen soon.
Polar bear Vera, who was born on 21 November 2002 in Moscow, is the first polar bear mother who can be watched raising her twins by the visitors of the Tiergarten Nürnberg. In the 1950s the Tiergarten had not yet had a "mother-child area", which meant that the zookeepers had to raise the cubs. Aleut and Gregor are the 29th and 30th polar bear cubs in the history of the Tiergarten.
Aleut and Gregor are siblings of the famous polar bear Flocke who was also born and raised in Nuremberg. Their father, who is also Flocke's father, is polar bear Felix who was born in Vienna on 24 November 2001. Flocke had to be raised by hand by the zookeepers when her mother Vera had stopped to care for her after four weeks.
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