UK welcomes first polar bear cub in 25 years, relocated from Scotland to Yorkshire

Hamish, the first polar bear cub to be born in the UK in 25 years is being moved from Scotland to Yorkshire Wildlife Park in England. The cub lived with his mother Victoria at Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore, Kincraig in Scotland and is being relocated to a new home in Doncaster. According to a post by the Highland Park, the polar bear will now be reared under the  European Endangered Species Programme and will be kept in the twelve-acre vast stretch with an abundant network of lakes and reserves along with other polar bears Victor, Pixel, Nissan, Nobby and Rasputin at Project Polar. 

"Our very playful bear will be missed by everyone here but it's exciting to see him move on and play his part in the European Endangered Species Programme," the staff informed on Facebook, sharing the lively cub's video. "Goodbye, Hamish," it added. 

"It has been an incredible two and a half years watching Hamish grow," the park said in heartfelt post bidding Hamish an emotional farewell.

A senior animal keeper at Highland Wildlife Park, Rachel Williams, said in the footage, "It has been an incredible two and a half years watching Hamish grow. He is a very playful bear who will be missed by everyone here at the park." Hamish has made a tremendous impression on the thousands of people who visited the park since his birth and helped to highlight the threats many species face in the wild, the park mentioned in the farewell clip. 

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A natural time to 'move out'

In January 2017, a polar bear female, Victoria who had arrived at the park as a newcomer gave birth to Hamish. According to UK's BBC, park officials learned of polar bear cub after they heard "noises" from Victoria’s enclosure in December and rushed to check. Officials found that the female polar bear had given birth to a tiny polar bear cub. Victoria was earlier introduced to one of two male bears at the facility, Arktos, for mating and the staff was long expecting at least 1 cub in the facility.

The cub, now two-and-a-half year old, is preparing to relocate to live with four other polar bears. Rachel Williams, a senior animal keeper at Highland Wildlife Park reportedly said that the cub that has grown bigger than the mother. Polar bear cubs stay with the mother for two to three years and so this is a natural time for Hamish to be moving on and for Victoria to relax in peace, she said. 

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