Polar bear happiness at Hanover Zoo: A keeper looks back on 25 years!

Polar bear happiness at Hanover Zoo: A keeper looks back on 25 years!

The Hanover Adventure Zoo has had an exciting time. With its almost 2,000 animals of 166 species, the zoo not only attracts animal lovers, but also always offers exciting news. A highlight of recent years has been the birth of a polar bear, a truly rare event that zookeeper Stefan Germann describes as particularly significant. Germann has worked at the zoo for almost 25 years and shared many special experiences with visitors in a Facebook video published to mark the zoo's 150th birthday. This also includes his preference for the gray seals, which he describes as a “fun package” and which, for him, represent a large part of the diversity that makes the zoo so interesting.

The birth of the polar bear cub, which was born on November 20, 2019, was particularly pleasing for the visitors. This little polar bear has developed splendidly and recently weighed an impressive 12 kilograms. The happy mother, polar bear Milana, takes exemplary care of her cub, as reports show, and shows a lot of love when raising it. The young animal, which was initially as small as a guinea pig, was allowed to keep its mother company on its first trips to the outdoor area after it left the whelping cave in spring 2020. The first examination of the polar bear cub, which also included vaccination, took place a few months after birth. Milana was lured into the neighboring enclosure with treats so that the veterinarians could determine the gender of the cub: it is a female.

The polar bear habitat

Polar bears live in extremely cold regions and require ice at sea to hunt their main food source, ringed seals. These ice surfaces are crucial to their hunting opportunities. Without enough ice, they cannot find air holes needed to hunt, and reproduction can also be affected. Unfortunately, this is a serious problem as climate change threatens polar bear habitats. Since they need snow to build whelping dens, which are essential for raising their young, a decrease in snowfall could have serious consequences.

The polar bear Milana and her cub have not only caused a stir in Hanover, but are also part of a larger, global issue. The conservation of polar bears is important not only for the zoo, but also for the ecosystem in which they live. Biodiversity can only be guaranteed through exchange between different populations across ice surfaces. The challenges that polar bears face are many, which is why Hannover Zoo plays a pioneering role when it comes to raising awareness and promoting species protection.

Looking to the future, it is to be hoped that the polar bears at Hannover Zoo are not only an attraction for visitors, but can also convey an important message about the challenges facing their species and the environment. The diversity and daily surprises that the zoo has in store delight both young and old visitors.

For anyone who would like to find out more about this exciting zoo and its animal inhabitants, the relevant information is available from News38, District newspaper and Berlin Zoo useful insights and exciting stories.