Wilbär had mercy with us!

11.6.2016 by Mervi and Vesa

On Wednesday morning (1st of June) we could only notice that it was going to be another very hot day. Of course, it didn’t prevent us from being very excited about a new day with bears!

This time we made sure we didn’t forget the water bottles. They were stuffed in my new ‘zoo bag’ I bought yesterday in the shop. We arrived in the park in good time so we had to wait a little before it was opened.

Pernilla was already waiting for us so we could have a nice chat before going to the Polar World. During the following weekend there were lots of events planned to celebrate the park’s 30 years anniversary. It would have been great to be there but we have to take so many things into consideration when we travel so it wasn’t possible.

On our way to the white giants we met Taquka playing with a piece of wood. We couldn’t see Felix – maybe he was still busy with his breakfast ….

Taquka’s claws are impressive! It was just a piece of cake for him to tear off pieces of the wood.

When we arrived to the polar bears we found – to our great pleasure – Ewa doing her water ballet with a ball. After the walk in the heat we already abandoned the idea of climbing to the bear watching platform. What luck we could see so many bears yesterday!

he show was a combination of modern gymnastics and synchronized swimming.

She was really focused on her performance ….

It’s always fantastic to see a big polar bear playing so happily. We just sat in the cool exhibition building and admired Ewa. For a polar bear lover there couldn’t be better entertainment!

She kept playing in the water for quite a long time but finally she got up from the water.

And what was Herr Wilbär doing? Oh yeah, he was napping on his snow bed. 🙂 We heard he had been swimming with Ewa early in the morning. No wonder our friend needed a break.

Again only Ewa was ‘visible’. Now she was giving a beary treatment to a big wood trunk.

– Did you say something? I can’t hear you!

– OK! I understand you want to see Wilbär, too. Well, let’s see what I can do!

We were determined to stay as long as it would take to have a better look at Wilbärle but we hoped Ewa could help us.

– There he is still napping . I’ve heard the brown bears hibernate – maybe some polar bears ‘summernate’? What do you think?

– I’m trying so hard to be a good hostess and I expect decent manners even from this lazy male ….. Now I’m going to express my feelings with some well chosen growls!

WILLBÄR – RISE AND SHINE!!!!

And a miracle happened!!!! Suddenly we saw Wilbär sitting on the snow looking still a little tired but he wasn’t lying anymore! Obviusly Ewa chose the right kind of growls! 🙂

We were almost holding our breath waiting and hoping …. Would he come closer or not?

YES, YES, YES!!!

Finally Wilbär had mercy with us and started slowly strolling towards the pond. Oh bear, what a gorgeous sight he is!

He was examining the grass and the stones very carefully. Maybe he was checking if the blueberries were growing as they should.

It looked like he was looking for something. Perhaps Ewa had pinched his ball?

It had taken some time before we could see our Wilbärle but he really was worth waiting! His fur looks great and the paws are as impressive as always. He also has such an innocent look on his face – don’t you agree?

After a while our giant friend felt it was time for a nap in the snow again and strolled back to his white kingdom. What a pity his white kingdom must have melted away during the hot days.

Thank you, Wilbärle, for letting us have a good look at you! May we add that even your boomsie is very cute!

Ewa was also examining the ground. Let’s hope there will be lots of yammy blueberries for our friends later on.

We had also a chance to admire Ewa very closely. Unfortunately we couldn’t take any photos through the windows but I guess these two pics give you a good idea of her current looks. Her fur is wonderfully white and fluffy. Well, maybe the boomsie needs a bath ….

Of course, Ewa’s round belly made us wonder if we could expect a nice furry surprise later on. Pernilla told us that Ewa has become very restless when the time for separation from Wilbär has come. Maybe this is one of the reasons there hasn’t been a cub yet.

Now Orsa is co-operating with vets specialized in fertility matters in an institute in Berlin! With their help the keepers want to offer Ewa and Wilbär the best possible chances to ‘produce’ an offspring. We wish the bears, the keepers and the specialist vets best of luck!

If there will be a cub Ewa will probably introduce her baby in late March when there’s still snow on the ground. I wonder if we should already buy skis …..

It was already afternoon and we had to start walking towards the exit. Of course, we had to stop to say ‘byebye’ to Taquka and Felix.

What a sweet Kodiak bear Taquka is!

Felix seems to be a nice kind of fellow.

Suddenly there was a lot of movement around the enclosure. Many keepers came to the bears and we wondered what was going on. It turned out that a visitor had dropped her sunglasses in the ‘noman’s land’ between the path and the enclosure.

There were some Dutch trainees in the park and one of them had only heard the word ‘glass’ and alarmed the keepers who thought a glass window was broken! We were also afraid that something dangerous had been thrown to the water. What luck it was a false alarm. However, we were impressed how fast the staff was on the spot!

Taquka and Felix were running after the keeper who was looking for the sunglasses. I’m sure they were as puzzled as we were.

Here you can see the difference in size of the bears very well.

After the ‘turbulence’ Felix came to the bear watching window. As you can see he isn’t a small bear either but compared to Taquka he looks like a teddybear.

The windows are usually very clean in Orsa but today a visitor – probaby a kid – had managed to make this window very dirty. It was fantastic anyway to see this bear only a few centimeters away! I don’t want to think what would have happened if the window really had been broken ….. although Felix looked very friendly kind of bear.

Now the bears thought it was time for water games again but first a short visit on the little island.

It was touching to see these two bears being such good friends in spite of the big difference in their sizes.

We heard that Taquka and Felix will be together as long as they want and as long as they get along so well.

Judging from what we saw we believe these two will stay together for a long, long time.

Our visit in the Orsa Predator Center had come to an end and we left the park hoping we could come back soon again.

Our special thanks to Pernilla, Susanne and Anette! Tack så mycket för det trevliga bemötandet och för all information vi fick!

We wish all the animals and everybody working in the park a wonderful Summer time!