15.1.2023 by Molly Merrow
The little rescued cub Qannik isn’t so little anymore, and she just celebrated her 12th birthday at the Louisville Zoo. A keeper told me she weighs about 550 pounds now.
Qannik and her sister were born on Alaska’s North Slope in an oilfield back in January of 2011. The mother bear and the twins were first spotted in February and the mom was fitted with a collar, which later slipped off. A storm likely separated Qannik from her family, and the little cub was found in late April, weighing only 15 pounds. She was taken to the Alaska Zoo, and then flown to the Louisville Zoo in late June, after she recovered her strength.
Every year the Louisville Zoo celebrates Qannik on a Saturday close to her designated birthday of January 10. A large crowd of visitors sang Happy Birthday to the bear, while Grizzly Bear Oits across the way watched. Lee, the other polar bear in Louisville, missed out on the party.
This year Qannik had pink and blue ice treats of apples and pumpkin, and Christmas trees with pumpkin chunks. But her favorite treat seemed to be the paper bag sign made by her keepers, and stuck to a big blue block with peanut butter.
Oh how she went for the peanut butter.
Qannik ripped the brown paper sign down, and then licked the peanut butter off the block.
Later she attacked the paper bag, ripping it up to find the peanut butter.
Sometimes she got a little too much peanut butter, and it made her stick out her tongue.
It was a perfect birthday for a bear who likes her treats.
Molly Merrow
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