Flake (polar bear)

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On April 9, 2008, visitors to the zoo saw Flocke for the first time.

Flocke (born December 11, 2007 in Nuremberg ) is a female polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) who was born in the Nuremberg Zoo and grew up there. Similar to the case of the polar bear Knut , the birth and hand-rearing of the polar bear triggered a lot of media coverage . The city of Nuremberg has protected the trademark "Eisbär Flocke".

Life

Flake (October 2008)

Flocke was born on December 11, 2007 to the polar bear Vera (* 2002 in Moscow), for whom it was the first birth. Father is the polar bear Felix (* 2001 in Vienna). First of all, the bear Vera took exemplary care of her young animal. On January 8, 2008 the she-bear left the rearing cave with Flocke and ran around the enclosure, apparently looking for another shelter. She made a restless impression. She kept dropping the cub. Because of this unusual behavior for polar bears, the zoo was forced to separate the young from the she-bear and it was decided to raise them by hand. Just a few days earlier, two polar bear cubs from another polar bear mother, Vilma, disappeared without a trace in the Nuremberg zoo. It is believed that the two were eaten up by their mother because of illness.

Flocke has been raised by carers since January 8, 2008. On January 15th, she opened her eyes. The animal was first seen in the outdoor enclosure on April 9, 2008.

Flocke was handed over to Marineland , a theme park for marine animals in Antibes on the Côte d'Azur , on April 23, 2010, together with her playmate Rasputin . There she gave birth to a young animal on November 26, 2014, which she raised herself. The Nuremberg zoo sees this as confirmation that careful hand-rearing does not have to lead to behavioral deficits and that early socialization with the polar bear Rasputin of the same age contributed positively to the development of Flocke.

Media coverage

The media began to report about the polar bears in Nuremberg, when the polar bear Vera repeatedly stayed in front of the rearing cave and apparently neglected her offspring. For reasons of animal welfare, the zoo management decided not to intervene in the natural rearing of the young for the time being. The aim was to prevent humans from being imprinted, as polar bears that were raised by humans are later less able to raise offspring themselves. For this, the zoo management was violently attacked by the tabloid press.

Since Flocke was taken into hand-rearing, new pictures of her have been published every day. The ZDF reported almost daily on the development of the bear and also posted clips in the form of weekly reports online.

The city of Nuremberg called for suggestions for the name of the polar bear to be sent. The city received 21,500 suggestions within a few days. On January 18, a jury chaired by the Lord Mayor of Nuremberg Ulrich Maly decided on the name “Flocke”, which the zoo keepers had used before.

On April 8, 2008, Flocke was shown for the first time in front of around 430 journalists and around 50 invited guests. This led to protests by some animal rights activists against keeping polar bears in the zoo and their marketing.

The much criticized poster campaign “Knut was yesterday” of the city of Nuremberg was discontinued on June 12, 2008 and replaced by the poster campaign “Climate protection begins on site”.

gallery

Sources and individual references

  1. Cf. Flocke website of the city of Nuremberg.
  2. Polar bear babies apparently eaten up by their mother, ( Memento from March 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) in: Süddeutsche Zeitung from January 7, 2008.
  3. Flocke is mother . Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  4. Cf. Why are you so heartless, Mr. Zoo Director? ( Memento of January 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Image , January 5, 2008.
  5. See own TV show for Baby Flocke , Die Welt , January 16, 2008.
  6. Cf. City of Nuremberg has determined a name: Polar bear baby is now officially called “Flocke” ( memento of the original from January 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Press release from the City of Nuremberg, January 18, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nuernberg.de
  7. See animal rights activists invade Flocke's outdoor enclosure Die Welt , April 8, 2008
  8. See new poster campaign with Flocke

Web links

Commons : Flocke  - collection of images, videos and audio files