Zoo Bottle-Feeds Polar Bear Cub Shunned by Mother

Zookeepers at the Nuremberg City Zoo have their hands full. Attendants must bottle-feed a four-week-old polar bear after concerns the mother would eat the cub.

According to a report from Reuters, Zookeepers decided to take the unnamed cub away from its mother, Vera, because the mother was showing signs of great distress and confusion. Earlier in the week, the Nuremberg City Zoo’s other female polar bear, Vilma, had eaten her two offspring. The zoo feared Vera would do the same.

It is common behavior for predators, such as polar bears, to eat their young if the cubs are sick or refuse to feed. The Nuremberg City Zoo, however, said Vilma’s two cubs were last seen on Sunday and appeared in good health.

As you can see from the above video, Vera’s unnamed cub is healthy, happy and very cute. Despite the occasional ear-wrenching tantrum, the cub is reported to spend most of it’s time sleeping—thank God!

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