New Additions Have Pittsburgh Zoo Visitors Seeing Double

Polar Bear Exhibit Doubles In Size

PITTSBURGH — The latest additions at the Pittsburgh zoo will have visitors seeing double.

Twin polar bears from Toledo named Aurora and Anana are ready to meet the public.

“Aurora, obviously named for the aurora borealis. And Anana is an Inuit name meaning beautiful,” said polar bear keeper Mark McDonough.

To tell the bears apart, look for a black spot above Anana’s eye.

“It also seems like Anana is a little bit chunkier size,” McDonough said.

The bears actually arrived about three weeks ago and have spent time getting used to their new digs. Zookeepers said the animals did a lot of crying at first. Now, they’re swimming, eating and feeling right at home.

“They’re a little bit more feisty, we can see that with feeding. Have a little bit higher energy in them than the boys. The boys are a little bit more laid back that these two girls are,” said McDonough.

The “boys” are Koda and Nuka, the zoo’s two other polar bears.

The girls will greet the public during the day and the boys will pull evening duty for the time being.

They have to stay apart because Aurora and Anana are too young to breed.

“A bunch of professionals that follow the genetics and family trees to make sure there’s not a lot of inbreeding with the captive population. So they will look at that before they decide whether to breed these ones,” McDonough said.

All four bears were born on the same day, Nov. 24, just two years apart.

For more information about the zoo’s polar bears, visit www.pittsburghzoo.com.

Go to Source

Similar Posts:

• Polar bears chill offstage as zoo exhibit awaits completion
• Is there a bun in the oven for a Seneca Park Zoo polar bear?
• Polar Bear Dies at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
• Polar Bear Dies at Rochester’s Zoo
• Polar bear welcomed into Buffalo Zoo