Yorkshire Wildlife Park: Polar bear brothers settle into new Doncaster home

The cute two-and-a-half-year-old brothers are the newest additions at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

The youngsters spent a month settling into their new home before being introduced to the attraction's older polar bears Sisu, aged five and Nobby, nine.

Head of carnivores at YWP, Kim Wilkins, said it was a 'delicate' process because polar bears are territorial.

She said the four bears have been living next door to each other separated by a wire fence, so they could get used to each other.

The introductions took place at Project Polar, a global centre for conservation at the park at Auckley, near Doncaster.

Sisu was first in the welcoming party and responded swiftly with chuffing noises, making himself look small and walking backwards towards the lake to invite the others for a swim.

He was soon joined by Nobby and the four bears enjoyed a day of play and exploration.

“When Polar Bears like each other, they make a chuffing noise. If they don’t like each other, we get lots of growls. To ensure the move ran smoothly, we got them used to all their new surroundings first and have now slowly begun to integrate them with the other males,” Kim said.

“We’re really experienced in mixing male bears as we’ve been doing it for a very long time now.

“The bears were cautious at first but were soon all playing together. It didn’t take them long to familiarise themselves with each other."

She said the plan was to increase the time the bears spent together so eventually they can all live together.

Yuma and Indie arrived at YWP in June 2021 from Marineland in the south of France with their mother Flocke and sister Tala.

Before their big move, they all lived together in a separate family reserve.

Yuma and Indie were transported across the park to the main 10-acre Project Polar reserve in special crates.

Rangers trained the young bears to crawl into the crates using treats - cubes of lard, cod liver oil, and squirts of whipped cream.

Project Polar 1, where the bears were introduced to each other, consists of three interlocking reserves with pools, a 7.5m deep lake, caves and rocky terrain to mimic the Arctic Circle in the summer. The other inhabitants of Project Polar 1 are ten-year-old Luka and four-year-old Hamish, who will be introduced to the young brothers later.

Project Polar is the largest polar bear centre outside Canada and is home to England’s only eight Polar Bears.

It is at the forefront of international conservation and research initiatives.

The 300 acre park opened in 2009 on the site of Brockholes Farm, a former riding school and petting zoo, and features 500 animals of 100 species.

It is an official member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and also the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and welcomes thousands of visitors each year.