Susan Purtell, Author at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Stories

In response to recent blog comments regarding Kalluk, the Polar Team wants to assure everyone that he is doing very well. He is rebounding nicely out of breeding season but does occasionally fall back briefly into some breeding season habits. Kalluk has gained a significant amount of weight and some days he eats about 40 pounds of meat! He is once again acknowledging keepers—always a nice change from the height of breeding season when he can be very non-responsive to behavior cues and “hellos” because his focus is elsewhere. He was even was trying to initiate play with me the other day as well as greeting me with his hot, bear breath when I said “good morning”. He also really enjoys a good lip rub again—he pushes his lips past the mesh so keepers are able to make safe contact. For those who have noticed Kalluk walking around by the waterfall and rockwork in the back of the exhibit, rest assured he is not revisiting his breeding season antics. Behind the rockwork and those doors are the bedrooms where all the bears get the majority of their diet. At various time during the day, keepers call the bears inside to eat their favorite items in private bedrooms. Also in these bedrooms are some comfortable materials they use to make themselves a bed each night. One speculation for Kalluk’s motivation is that he either wants to come inside for food (Yea Kalluk!) or he would like to make a bed by hauling rubber mats, burlap, and boxes to his favorite spot—all of which are behaviors that we are very happy to see. We try to provide opportunities for the bears to create beds on exhibit as well, but we strive to give the bears choices and where they make their bed at night is one important choice. Early in the afternoon, the bears outside get to choose between being on exhibit or going in the bedrooms. Tatqiq and Chinook are also doing well. You may notice Chinook is looking beautifully plump these days. We purposefully increased her diet significantly this year at this time, to see if it would tip the scales (pun intended) in favor of her chances of having cubs. We really are trying everything we can to make this breeding season a success. Other ways in which we are trying to increase Chinook’s chances (as we have in past years) are allowing her to “choose” her situation (i.e. isolation or with the group), access to air conditioned bedrooms, eventually installing her den, and continuing to study her hormone levels via fecal samples. As usual, Tatqiq is her “happy-go-lucky” self. She too has gained a little weight, as we intentionally increased her diet. Stay tuned for some exciting projects in the future with Tatqiq! Other updates include a recent change to the exhibit. We added a new bridge in front of the waterfall. This simple renovation to the exhibit will enable us to make future changes easier to facilitate such as using a bobcat to add more substrate to the exhibit. New substrate is a great source of enrichment and gives the bears more opportunities to make a bed on exhibit. As the heat increases in the summer months, we do ask for your patience! On those hot days, the bears are allowed access to those nice, cool bedrooms by 3 p.m. PST at the latest in order to give them more choice. Each bear can decide to stay on exhibit (therefore potentially on view for Polar Cam fans) or choose to make a bed inside their bedrooms. Thank you for understanding! Susan Purtell is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Susan Purtell

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