A pretty big deal in the wildlife world, the first polar bear to be born in the UK in 25 years is officially moving to Yorkshire. The adorable fella is jumping on the motorway (we imagine) and heading down from the highlands of Scotland to the beautiful Yorkshire. Just two-and-a-half years old, Hamish is currently at Highland Wildlife Park with his mother, Victoria.
The park is already home to polar bears and is part of a European breeding programme. The park’s owner, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has said Hamish is to be moved on Wednesday to Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster – where he’ll join four other bears who currently reside at the Doncaster park. The last polar bear cubs born in the UK were twins at Flamingo Land in 1992.
Hamish was born in December 2017 and named by a public vote. In the wild, polar bear cubs usually leave their mothers after two to three years.
Rachel Williams, senior animal keeper at Highland Wildlife Park, said: “It has been an incredible two and a half years watching him grow and he will be missed by everyone here at the park.”
She said: “Hamish has made a tremendous impression on the thousands of people who visited the park since his birth and helped highlight the treats many species face in the wild.”
“It is exciting to see him moving on and playing his part in the European Endangered Species Programme.”
Yorkshire Wildlife Park’s head of animals, Dr Matt Hartley, “Yorkshire Wildlife Park participates in the European Endangered Species Programme by housing sub-adult males during the important period of their development prior to becoming breeding males or retired males that are genetically well represented in the carefully managed population.”
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