Only one of two polar bear cubs born at the Toronto Zoo last week survived its first 24 hours and is now in intensive care, the zoo announced Friday.
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Aurora, the mother of this female polar bear cub at Columbus Zoo, has recently begun taking longish breaks from caring for her new daughter.
Aurora attempted to nurse both cubs, but she was not producing any milk, staff said.
The surviving cub is now in the Zoo’s intensive care unit in the Wildlife Health Centre where it is being closely watched by staff. The second cub, zoo officials say, is now receiving 24-hour care.
Medical staff will be providing the cub with intravenous fluids and feeding it a special milk formula.
“This is an extremely critical time for this tiny cub and Zoo staff are providing 24/7 care”, Head of Veterinary Services Chris Dutton said in the statement.
“So far [the cub] appears to have responded very well to the treatments”.
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Toronto Zoo continues to be involved in a collaborative research project involving multiple accredited zoos to understand polar bear reproductive biology. Wild polar bears are now considered vulnerable for endangerment by the World Wildlife Fund. Over the years, many shocking images of skeletal polar bears have appeared online as a warning of the devastating effects of climate change.
