An Andean bear cub who was born in the winter at Wildlife Conservation Society’s Queens Zoo has made his public debut. This is the first Andean bear born in New York City.
The male cub was born to mother, Nicole, and father, Bouba. He now weighs 25 pounds, and has made his entrance into the zoo’s bear habitat with his mom to start exploring. Since the unnamed cub hasn’t yet fully acclimated to his new environment exhibit times will vary each day.
According to a press release from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Andean bears are the only bear species native to South America. They have characteristically short faces and are relatively small in comparison to some other bear species. Adult males weigh between 250-350 pounds while adult females rarely exceed 200 pounds.
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| The new Andean bear cub with his mom, Nicole, at the Queens Zoo. |
The Queens Zoo is breeding Andean bears as part of the Species Survival Plan. The cub’s dad, Bouba, was brought over from a zoo in France for the purposes of breeding with Nicole, who was born in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian National Zoo and came to the Queens Zoo in 2015.
“This is a significant birth for the Queens Zoo and the Andean bear SSP breeding program. This little guy may be adorable, but more importantly he reminds us of what we stand to lose when a species is in danger of extinction,” said Scott Silver, director and animal curator of the Queens Zoo, in the press release. “We are excited to introduce the cub to New York and to share the work WCS and our partners are doing to save Andean bears and many other species in the wild.”
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that there are fewer than 18,000 remaining Andean bears in the wild. To find out more about the Queens Zoo, located in Corona, visit queenszoo.com.
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Main image: The Andean bear cub in his new environment at the Queens Zoo.
Megan Maher © WCS
