You may remember a strange story that came out of Japan, of all places, a few years back. The strange series of events first began back in 2005, when zookeepers at Kushiro Zoo welcomed a new male polar bear cub. They named him Tsuyoshi and waited a couple of years until he matured before eventually introducing him to one of the zoo’s longtime resident female bears, Kurumi.
The plan was that the two would hit it off, mate, and have some baby polar bears together. Several unsuccessful years went by without any babies, let alone any mating behavior or even a single amorous advance between the two.
At first zookeepers thought Tsuyoshi was too young, then they started to give weight to the fact that he peed just like Kurumi. Sensing the peculiarities, the zoo sent out samples of his hair for DNA tests and the results suggested that “he” was a “she.”
The zoo still was not 100% positive about Tsuyoshi’s gender and so they anesthetized the bear and did a first hand observation, which confirmed the tests and suspicions. Tsuyoshi was a female, and that’s why her and Kurumi were not successful in having babies!
The mix up caused quite a stir and people wondered how could they have gotten it so wrong? Apparently, it’s easy to confuse polar bears for the opposite sex. In fact, Tsuyoshi’s other brother, who was also adopted by a zoo, turned out to be a female as well! It’s all very strange.
All that aside, Kurumi did end up falling in love with another polar bear, who was indeed a bona fide male. Shortly after she met him she gave birth to a sweet, playful cub, who was verified female and named Milk. In this video you can see the 4 month old youngster and her mother playing and frolicking around. They look happy, healthy, and thrilled to be together.
Above all, one thing is for certain; Kurumi is an excellent mother. The mama bear’s instincts kicked right in when her young cub suddenly got into a bit of deep trouble. Little baby Milk fell into the icy cold water, which was way over her head, and didn’t yet know how to swim.
Thankfully, her mother was nearby and immediately noticed her cries of distress. She sprung into action and rushed to the pool’s edge, dove right in without a flinch of hesitation, and surfaced protectively behind Milk to nudge her up. After a brief struggle, and slipping quite a bit on the wet poolside in her attempts to claw her way back onto firm ground, the cub made it to safety.
Milk was definitely not fazed by her near death experience and immediately got back to what is really important, playtime! Kurumi certainly has a lot of work ahead of her and if this is any indication, her little tyke is going to be a handful.
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