Go cubs go: Arki may give birth soon

BY KARA SPAK – Chicago Sun Times

Arki, Brookfield Zoo’s 25-year-old female polar bear, is due to give birth any day, zookeepers think.

The mother of five “looks and acts pregnant,” said Mike Brown, lead keeper of bears, who said Arki tipped the scales at 750 pounds this year — a good sign there’s could be a baby or babies on board.

Arki and polar pal Aussie mated twice in the spring. But there’s no bear-sized stick for Arki to urinate on, and newly developed fecal polar pregnancy testing isn’t 100 percent conclusive, Brown said.

If Arki is pregnant, she could have one cub — or as many as four in a litter. Brown said Arki and Aussie are among the most fertile polar bear partners in American zoos.

So for now it’s just wait . . . and wait. The good news for the little bear, if there is one — the zoo’s new bear habitat has a private “kiddie pool” for cubs to test out their nascent swimming skills.

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