Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Twin polar bear cubs Yuka and Yura at Ouwehands Zoo
Twin polar bear cubs Yuka and Yura at Ouwehands Zoo. March 2020 - Credit: Ouwehands Dierenpark / Supplied to NL Times
Nature
Polar bear
animals
Rhenen
Ouwehands Zoo
Wednesday, July 22, 2020 - 19:35
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Polar bear twin died from rough play with sibling at Ouwehands Zoo

The death of a seven-month old polar bear at the Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen was likely caused by rough play with her older, larger sister, the zoo said on Wednesday. The conclusion was made based on autopsy results, which also showed that the young male cub had a respiratory infection.

Yura's twin brother, Yuka, was not harmed. While Yura weighed roughly 65 kilograms, his five-year-old sister weighs in at around 300 kilograms. "Sura and the boy played together regularly, always under the watchful eye of their mother and grandmother," the zoo said. Adult bears and younger siblings normally play rough, and fatal injuries are uncommon.

The bears' mother, Freedom, had been protected her young more intensively than expected. "However, the moment Sura started her heavy-handed game with the much smaller Yura ... mother Freedom remained aloof," the zoo said, adding they did not think it was a meant to be an attack. The cause of death came from injuries sustained as a result of playing with his older sister. 

The zoo thinks freedom did not defend Sura because she could sense her young cub's respiratory issue, even though the zoo was not previously aware of it and it had not yet bothered the cub. "It is well known that mothers sometimes fail to nurse their newborn offspring if they may have something wrong," the zoo said.

"In this case, Freedom has let 'nature' take its course."

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Danish police search for Dutch suspect in murder and stabbing case
  • Second case of monkeypox found in the Netherlands: RIVM
  • Reports of development fund fraud increased in 2021
  • Enforcement officers in Utrecht allowed to voluntarily wear bodycams
  • 1 in 6 Dutch homes still lack smoke detectors
  • Netherlands' budget deficit rises to 3.4 percent

Top stories

  • Second case of monkeypox found in the Netherlands: RIVM
  • Much unknown about first Dutch monkeypox cases, experts say
  • 17-year-old girl stabbed after Hilversum robbery; bystanders overpower suspect
  • Most buses in Eindhoven and Venlo are not running due to strike
  • Dutch deficit rises to 3.4%, leading to some higher taxes; 30 percent expat benefit reduced
  • First monkeypox case definitively found in Netherlands

© 2012-2022, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content