Inuka
Encyclopedia
Inuka (born 26 December 1990) is a polar bear
and one of the mascot
s of the Singapore Zoo
.
. This was the result of an extensive breeding programme run by the zoo. There have been four polar bears at Singapore Zoo altogether—Nanook, Sheba and their offspring Inuka, as well as another female, Anana.
Nanook and Sheba arrived at the Singapore Zoo in 1978, from Winnipeg Zoo
in Canada and Cologne Zoo in Germany respectively. Nanook was 11 months old and was captured in the wild, while Sheba was 14 months old and born in captivity. To ease them in, they arrived in the wee hours of the morning when the temperature was coolest. Like most zoo animals, one of each sex was brought in for mating
and conservation
purposes. Anana, a female polar bear caught in the wild, arrived from Canada in 1979. She died in 1999.
On 26 December 1990, Sheba gave birth to a 500-gram cub. The cub was named Inuka, chosen from amongst 390 names suggested in a nationwide naming contest. More than 10,000 entries were received, including names like Arctos and Shardik.
In 1993, The Straits Times
named Inuka as one of "28 people and things to call our own", alongside national swimmer Joscelin Yeo
, the Vanda Miss Joaquim
and the Singapore Sling
. Inuka has been adopted by the foundation arm of SPH since birth, with the SPH co-organising events together such as his birthday parties. The foundation contributes about S$95,000 annually to the Wildlife Conservation Fund, which covers the adoption of Inuka and other zoo sponsorships.
Inuka's father, Nanook, which had been suffering from chronic
heart
and lung disease, died on 29 December 1995 at the age of 18. By then, Inuka was twice the size of his mother Sheba.
In 2000, more than 300 guests had free cake at Inuka's 10th birthday bash, where limited Inuka notebook
s were also given away. In 2001, Inuka was named by the Singapore Zoo as a possible replacement for the ageing orangutan
Ah Meng
as the zoo's mascot, among other candidates like elephant
Sang Raja and orangutan Hong Bao. However, nothing materialised.
growing on their hair shafts and visitors thought that the zoo actually painted them green. The zoo said that the algae was harmless and singled out the hot, humid climate as the cause. To remove the algae, the zoo first sprayed Sheba with hydrogen peroxide
and later sprayed Inuka.
That same year in 2004, controversies started over the polar bear enclosure at the zoo and Inuka and Sheba's behaviour. The enclosure was a mere size of 391 m² compared to its huge Arctic habitat which can spread an area of over 80,000 km².
The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) discussed with the zoo a proposal to move Inuka to a temperate
country zoo. The society also claimed that Sheba and he were showing signs of behavioural and physical distress
such as signs of heat stress, high levels of inactivity, high levels of abnormal stereotypical behaviour, and performing unusual behaviours such as waving and ringing a bell at feeding shows. Acres claimed that the pool's temperature was at 17°C much higher than the water conditions in the Arctic. Acres asked the zoo again to improve his enclosure.
The Singapore Zoo said the bears were kept in good conditions citing that Inuka was born in the tropics. It will not import anymore Arctic animals as it is planning to become a rainforest
themed zoo. The zoo also spent S$200,000 upgrading the polar bears' facilities, installing another air-conditioner in the den and adding mist
ing fans and netted shades over the enclosure to keep it at 22°C.
The zoo decided to focus on polar bears in 2006 as it could be their final year in Singapore. The SPH Foundation will sponsor Inuka's upkeep until he is transferred. Inuka's 16th birthday party in 2006 saw the attendance of more than fifty guests, and included an ice carving as well as a birthday cake made of ice filled with apples and fish, topped with sixteen carrot sticks representing candles.
In May 2007, the Singapore Zoo announced that Inuka will stay at the zoo even after Sheba dies, contrary to the earlier decision to send him to a temperate-country zoo when that happens. The decision was made on the recommendation of the zoo's Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee. However, there were no plans to import any more polar bears. Meanwhile, the zoo is looking into improving the facilities, including providing better water quality
and a soft area for them to walk on.
According to the recent press reports in Aug 2010, "The bears will be the highlight of the Frozen Tundra exhibit in the $180 million River Safari theme park, which is due to open in 2012 on 12ha of land between the zoo and the Night Safari." This is contrary to the earlier claims by the zoo to focus more on Tropical rainforest animals, suitable for the weather conditions in Singapore. The local animal welfare organisation congratulated the zoo for building a bigger and climate-controlled enclosure for the bears, however criticised that this is contradictory to the zoo's message with regard to fighting global warming. It said, "On the one hand, the zoo is creating awareness about the need to cut our carbon emissions to save the polar bear's habitat. But on the other, a large climate-controlled enclosure for the polar bears, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, will undoubtedly contribute to global warming and to the demise of wild polar bears."
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
and one of the mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
s of the Singapore Zoo
Singapore Zoo
The Singapore Zoo , formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens and commonly known locally as the Mandai Zoo, occupies 28 hectares of land on the margins of Upper Seletar Reservoir within Singapore's heavily forested central catchment area. The zoo was built at a cost of S$9m granted by...
.
Biography
Inuka was born in the Singapore Zoo and is the first polar bear to be born in the tropicsTropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
. This was the result of an extensive breeding programme run by the zoo. There have been four polar bears at Singapore Zoo altogether—Nanook, Sheba and their offspring Inuka, as well as another female, Anana.
Nanook and Sheba arrived at the Singapore Zoo in 1978, from Winnipeg Zoo
Assiniboine Park
Assiniboine Park is a park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was established in 1904 and is located north of the Assiniboine Forest. Today, it covers , of these are designed in the English landscape style....
in Canada and Cologne Zoo in Germany respectively. Nanook was 11 months old and was captured in the wild, while Sheba was 14 months old and born in captivity. To ease them in, they arrived in the wee hours of the morning when the temperature was coolest. Like most zoo animals, one of each sex was brought in for mating
Mating
In biology, mating is the pairing of opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for copulation. In social animals, it also includes the raising of their offspring. Copulation is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproducing animals for insemination and subsequent internal fertilization...
and conservation
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
purposes. Anana, a female polar bear caught in the wild, arrived from Canada in 1979. She died in 1999.
On 26 December 1990, Sheba gave birth to a 500-gram cub. The cub was named Inuka, chosen from amongst 390 names suggested in a nationwide naming contest. More than 10,000 entries were received, including names like Arctos and Shardik.
In 1993, The Straits Times
The Straits Times
The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...
named Inuka as one of "28 people and things to call our own", alongside national swimmer Joscelin Yeo
Joscelin Yeo
Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling is a Nominated Member of Parliament and a former competitive swimmer from Singapore. Yeo won 40 gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games, as well as represented the Republic in the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Summer Olympics...
, the Vanda Miss Joaquim
Vanda Miss Joaquim
Vanda Miss Joaquim , also known as the Singapore Orchid and the Princess Aloha Orchid is a hybrid orchid cultivar that is Singapore's national flower....
and the Singapore Sling
Singapore Sling
The Singapore Sling is a cocktail that was developed sometime before 1915 by Ngiam Tong Boon , a bartender working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel Singapore...
. Inuka has been adopted by the foundation arm of SPH since birth, with the SPH co-organising events together such as his birthday parties. The foundation contributes about S$95,000 annually to the Wildlife Conservation Fund, which covers the adoption of Inuka and other zoo sponsorships.
Inuka's father, Nanook, which had been suffering from chronic
Chronic (medicine)
A chronic disease is a disease or other human health condition that is persistent or long-lasting in nature. The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include asthma, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.In medicine, the...
heart
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
and lung disease, died on 29 December 1995 at the age of 18. By then, Inuka was twice the size of his mother Sheba.
In 2000, more than 300 guests had free cake at Inuka's 10th birthday bash, where limited Inuka notebook
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
s were also given away. In 2001, Inuka was named by the Singapore Zoo as a possible replacement for the ageing orangutan
Orangutan
Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
Ah Meng
Ah Meng
Ah Meng was a female Sumatran Orangutan and a tourism icon of Singapore. She was smuggled from Indonesia and kept illegally as a domestic pet before being recovered by a veterinarian in 1971...
as the zoo's mascot, among other candidates like elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
Sang Raja and orangutan Hong Bao. However, nothing materialised.
Health concerns
In 2004, Inuka and his mother had algaeAlgae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
growing on their hair shafts and visitors thought that the zoo actually painted them green. The zoo said that the algae was harmless and singled out the hot, humid climate as the cause. To remove the algae, the zoo first sprayed Sheba with hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is the simplest peroxide and an oxidizer. Hydrogen peroxide is a clear liquid, slightly more viscous than water. In dilute solution, it appears colorless. With its oxidizing properties, hydrogen peroxide is often used as a bleach or cleaning agent...
and later sprayed Inuka.
That same year in 2004, controversies started over the polar bear enclosure at the zoo and Inuka and Sheba's behaviour. The enclosure was a mere size of 391 m² compared to its huge Arctic habitat which can spread an area of over 80,000 km².
The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) discussed with the zoo a proposal to move Inuka to a temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
country zoo. The society also claimed that Sheba and he were showing signs of behavioural and physical distress
Distress (medicine)
In medicine, distress is an aversive state in which an animal is unable to adapt completely to stressors and their resulting stress and shows maladaptive behaviors...
such as signs of heat stress, high levels of inactivity, high levels of abnormal stereotypical behaviour, and performing unusual behaviours such as waving and ringing a bell at feeding shows. Acres claimed that the pool's temperature was at 17°C much higher than the water conditions in the Arctic. Acres asked the zoo again to improve his enclosure.
The Singapore Zoo said the bears were kept in good conditions citing that Inuka was born in the tropics. It will not import anymore Arctic animals as it is planning to become a rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
themed zoo. The zoo also spent S$200,000 upgrading the polar bears' facilities, installing another air-conditioner in the den and adding mist
Mist
Mist is a phenomenon of small droplets suspended in air. It can occur as part of natural weather or volcanic activity, and is common in cold air above warmer water, in exhaled air in the cold, and in a steam room of a sauna. It can also be created artificially with aerosol canisters if the...
ing fans and netted shades over the enclosure to keep it at 22°C.
Future
The Singapore Zoo has contacted the Polar Bear International Studbook keeper based in Rostock Zoo in Germany to have Inuka included in the list of bears available for transfer as part of an "animal exchange programme", when his mother, Sheba, dies. Inuka would most likely end up in a zoo in Europe.The zoo decided to focus on polar bears in 2006 as it could be their final year in Singapore. The SPH Foundation will sponsor Inuka's upkeep until he is transferred. Inuka's 16th birthday party in 2006 saw the attendance of more than fifty guests, and included an ice carving as well as a birthday cake made of ice filled with apples and fish, topped with sixteen carrot sticks representing candles.
In May 2007, the Singapore Zoo announced that Inuka will stay at the zoo even after Sheba dies, contrary to the earlier decision to send him to a temperate-country zoo when that happens. The decision was made on the recommendation of the zoo's Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee. However, there were no plans to import any more polar bears. Meanwhile, the zoo is looking into improving the facilities, including providing better water quality
Water quality
Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...
and a soft area for them to walk on.
According to the recent press reports in Aug 2010, "The bears will be the highlight of the Frozen Tundra exhibit in the $180 million River Safari theme park, which is due to open in 2012 on 12ha of land between the zoo and the Night Safari." This is contrary to the earlier claims by the zoo to focus more on Tropical rainforest animals, suitable for the weather conditions in Singapore. The local animal welfare organisation congratulated the zoo for building a bigger and climate-controlled enclosure for the bears, however criticised that this is contradictory to the zoo's message with regard to fighting global warming. It said, "On the one hand, the zoo is creating awareness about the need to cut our carbon emissions to save the polar bear's habitat. But on the other, a large climate-controlled enclosure for the polar bears, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, will undoubtedly contribute to global warming and to the demise of wild polar bears."