Baby news

My 7 yearold GD recently acquired a polar bear toy. She is waiting to hear what name is given to Victoria's cub so that hers can share the name!

And more babies! youtu.be/XoT4yJmL2LA These triplets are binturongs, a small cat-like bear, ative to rainforests in Southeast Asia, binturongs are a member of the civet family, with their distinctive, popcorn scent coming from a chemical compound in their urine.

They are classified as vulnerable in the wild, with their population having declined by around a third over the past 18 years. It is incredibly difficult to breed the quirky animals, so zoo staff have been delighted by the arrival of triplets.

www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/news/article/14205/rzss-edinburgh-zoo-welcomes-first-binturong-cubs-born-in-scotland/

I have been up to the Highland Wildlife Park to see the polar bear cub in the flesh. He is just too cute! I took this video. youtu.be/0jOxExnvGkc Apologies for the shaky bits, but it was at maximum zoom.
It is quite long but how could I leave any of it out? I have added a shot of the whole enclosure, which isn't all that eciting but it does show the size and the setting. Then there are shots of them getting a scatter fed of carrots, cherry tomatoes, vegetables and a tasty rat. (served in the most inconvenient corner to get photos of them of course, right up against the back fence and behind a projecting roof and another side of the fence.) The cub has a good root around the food, though he is not yet really eating any of it, and at one point he runs away with something. He finds an empty blue plastic container very interesting and he copies his mother when she has a scratch against a tree. Finally he goes for a swim in the pool.

Super video Elegran. Baby Polar B is very cute!
Found your intro. showing the Highland Wildlife Park informative - what a wonderful setting. Not dull at all.

Thanks, FFinnochio. Most news shots of the cub are close-ups, but you don't get an idea of the surroundings from that. My shaky hands camera can't cope very well with such an extreme zoom. Half the time I couldn't even see whether I had him in shot or not and he kept vanishing behind the bushes. There was some expensive photographic equipment being used all around me so I was chuffed to get anything at all that was worth watching.

It was really good visit (2 days, stayed in a B&B in Kingussie so as to get the whole day at the park - it takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours to drive up there from Edinburgh. Anyone else going be warned, it is a long walk to the female polar bear enclosure, which was deliberately sited well away from the busier part of the park.