Now aged three months, baby polar bear Fritz is getting increasingly mobile, and it’s all mama bear Tonja (7) can do to keep up with him. Soon, he will be ready to take his first steps in the outside world. Around a week ago, refurbishment started on the polar bears’ home to make it more suitable for young Fritz and more attractive for visitors.
Polar bear curator Dr Florian Sicks explains why the refurbishment is necessary: “We want to make it easier for Fritz to get around on his little legs. We are making improvements where the rocks are too steep or the steps are too high.”
And it’s not just the enclosure that is being redesigned this February; the surrounding visitor area is also getting a makeover. Tierpark director Dr Andreas Knieriem is particularly keen for the site to draw attention to environmental issues. “We would like to utilise the public’s emotive response to Fritz to highlight the problems his fellow bears are currently experiencing in the Arctic. Although Fritz lives many miles away from his species’ natural habitat and will grow up without knowing how tough life there has become, the threat that climate change poses to polar bears and their Arctic home is a crucial topic that polar bear keepers have an obligation to address.”
From the spring, new signs will provide visitors with lots of fascinating facts about the bears and their natural habitat – for instance, about how polar bears are perfectly adapted to their snowy homes, and what impact climate change will have on the Earth’s biggest land predator.
Early next week, Fritz’s father Wolodja (5) will move into a new home. It has been clear ever since Fritz was born that, sooner or later, Wolodja would have to make way for the mother and her child. In consultation with the coordinator for the polar bear European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), the decision was taken to keep Wolodja in Berlin. He will therefore be moving just a few miles away to Zoo Berlin, where he will keep elderly she-bear Katjuscha company.
Background
Fritz’s mother Tonja (now aged seven) gave birth to her first offspring at Tierpark Berlin on 3 November 2016. Fritz is the first baby polar bear at Tierpark Berlin in 22 years. His father is five-year-old Wolodja.
The young mother and her son are currently not on show to the public. Just like in the wild, the polar bear mother will not leave the birthing den with her young until the spring.
