- Baby polar bear Rahke underwent an annual health check at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington.
- Due to Laake’s size, a team of six veterinary staff was required to hand him over.
- Test results were encouraging and showed she was in optimal health with no signs of illness.
Laake the polar bear, lying on his back with his giant paws in the air, is having his annual health check. It includes almost the same tests performed on humans, such as blood, urine, and heart tests. difference? It will take six veterinary staff to hand her over.
Recent tests conducted at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington, show encouraging results for 3-year-old Rahke, who has lived in the state with her twin sister since June 2023, after moving from the Detroit Zoo. brought about.
“So we’re looking for any kind of lumps, bumps, masses, large lymph nodes, anything that indicates an abnormal health condition,” said Karen Wolfe, chief veterinarian. “But we didn’t find anything like that. She’s in optimal condition.”
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Reuters had exclusive access to footage of Mr Laake being examined from nose to tail during the hour-long test. She also had her ears cleaned, which veterinarians joked was like a “spa treatment.”
Larke, a 3-year-old polar bear cub at Point Defiance Zoom & Aquarium, undergoes a series of tests by Chief Veterinarian Karen Wolfe during his annual health check in Tacoma, Wash., on March 26, 2024. receive. (Reuters/Matt Mills McKnight)
“It’s really incredible that we can get our hands on a polar bear. There are so few of them. They’re really charismatic animals and we’re working hard to save them from extinction and protect them from the effects of climate change. We really need that support,” Wolf said.
A warming Arctic is threatening the traditional habitat of polar bears, which use sea ice to hunt seals, forcing them to spend more time on land, causing starvation and threatening their numbers.
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Sheriden Plouffe, assistant curator of Rocky Shores and Tundra at Point Defiance Zoo, said zoos can be important in educating the public about the risks that climate change poses to wildlife.
“I think zoos play a very important role in conservation. We can’t just have them come here to be exhibited. We need to conserve their species and bring them to the public. We need to work on teaching about climate change,” she said.
