Eindhoven Zoo is (ice) mountain proud!

Eindhoven Zoo in Nuenen is very proud! Polar bear Frimas gave birth to two healthy polar bears. Mother and polar bear twins are doing well and are still in the nursery, while father Henk is impatiently pacing outside.

As for Frimas, her confidence was high. In fact, in 2012 she already gave birth to two healthy youngsters without any problems: Noordje and Pixel. They moved to another zoo, which gave Eindhoven Zoo the opportunity to continue the breeding program. Polar bears usually give birth to twins or triplets; very occasionally only one young is born.

Exemplary

Frimas' delivery took place from Saturday to Sunday. "Our caretakers spent some time with the polar bears just before closing time and nothing was happening at that time. When they returned Sunday morning, they saw on the camera footage that two polar bears had been born. They are doing very well, drinking well and Frimas shows herself to be an exemplary mother," says head of animal care Stephan Rijnen.

Names

The polar bears will stay in the indoor enclosure for the next while. The caretakers will not be there for the time being. In February/March the polar bears will probably be on display to the public. Eindhoven Zoo does not yet know the sex of the polar bears. "We can only find out in a few months. So with giving names we will have to wait," said Rijnen.

Hibernation

"What many people don't know is that a female polar bear only goes into hibernation/winter rest when she is pregnant," Rijnen continued. Frimas had therefore been staying in a separate indoor enclosure for her "hibernation" for some time, although in this case it was more of a winter rest because there is no need for polar bears in zoos to actually go to sleep to conserve energy. After all, there is plenty of food available.

More polar bears?

Eindhoven Zoo suspects that Beja, with her 29 years the oldest polar bear in the Netherlands, is also pregnant. Whether Eindhoven Zoo can welcome any more polar bears remains to be seen.

Video 2015