Polar bear cub dies at Sea World

ONE of Sea World’s two newborn polar bear cubs has tragically died despite a daring rescue attempt by heartbroken staff to save it.

ONE of Sea World’s two newborn polar bear cubs has tragically died.

The 10-day-old female cub died on Saturday night after its health deteriorated.

Sea World staff became concerned about the health of the cub last Thursday.

Of the two cubs, one was larger and more dominant and it was feared the smaller one was not getting enough milk or growing at a healthy rate, a heartbroken Sea World Marine Sciences director Trevor Long said.

Mum Liya also began focusing more of her attention on the larger cub.

Liya was the picture of a nurturing mum after her two cubs were born last month but sadly, one of her cubs has died.

The Sea World veterinary team wanted to give Liya the chance to raise both her cubs but were forced to intervene on Saturday morning when it was observed she’d shunned the smaller cub.

It was retrieved from the den by handlers using night vision goggles and tongs and placed in a humidity crib, given fluids and a specialised formula.

However, the little girl passed away that evening.

Sea World polar bear Liya continues to care for her one remaining cub after losing its twin. Photo: Sea World

“Our ultimate aim was to give Liya every opportunity to raise both cubs, however the situation worsened on Saturday morning,” Mr Long said.

“It was a little girl which is even more sad because that little girl could have contributed to the breeding program.”

He said Liya continued to display positive and confident maternal behaviours towards the one remaining cub.

“The team are continuing to carefully observe Liya and the cub 24 hours a day through state-of-the-art monitoring systems and we remain cautiously optimistic for the welfare of the cub during the extremely critical period,” he said.

It is the second time Liya has lost one of her cubs.

In 2013, Henry’s twin died just five days after it was born when Liya also shunned it to focus on one cub.

The twin of polar bear cub Henry also died just days after it was born — not uncommon in the polar bear world. Picture: World Sea

At the time, Mr Long told the Gold Coast Bulletin polar bear handlers watched helplessly as mum Liya struggled with twin cubs in the days after their birth, finally turning her back on one.

``We could see Liya was struggling,’’ he said in September 2013.

``The cubs were not able to walk but they wriggled around to suckle.

``We could see that she was struggling trying to keep them together.

``She got to the point that she couldn’t deal with it any more so she turned her back on one of them.’’

Henry the baby polar bear

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Handlers had tried desperately to retrieve the rejected cub twice, using tongs slid through a side door to the maternity den but an agitated Liya foiled the rescue.

Sea World staff had no choice but to watch as the cub died from starvation.

``It was extremely heartbreaking,’’ said Mr Long.

``We were fearful if we kept trying then she would reject the second cub, so we had to let natural selection take its course.

``It was so hard to watch.’’

The cub died after it’s growth rate slowed

The cub eventually died but remained partially buried in the den for weeks until Liya and little Henry ventured out to another enclosure called ``cub kindy’’.

Mr Long said while it was not uncommon to lose cubs from a litter, the Sea World team were deeply saddened.

Research indicates 33 per cent of wild pregnant bears lose all cubs within the first year of birth. More than half of all polar bear cubs born in human care die prior to 30 days.

Sea World polar bear Liya continues to care for her one remaining cub after losing its twin. Photo: Sea World