Featured Image Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
By Emily Persico
After 14 weeks of growing big and strong, a fluffy polar bear cub has finally emerged from her den at the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, Germany.
Curious yet timid, this adorable creature roams her enclosure excitedly, all the while making sure to stick close to mom.
“The little one will discover more and more every day and become increasingly bolder,” explains Rasem Baban, the Hellabrunn Zoo Director.
In just three more weeks, “the little one” will finally have a name. The zoo is accepting suggestions from the public until the naming ceremony on March 23rd. Keeping with the zoo’s 2016 naming tradition, all suggestions must begin with the letter “Q.”
In the meantime, Baby Q’s mother will continue showing her around and shoving her face with food. The cub has gained 20 pounds over the past three months (bringing her to a total of 22 pounds) and will need to gain a couple hundred more by adulthood.
“In the last three months, Giovanna has shown herself to be an experienced and patient mother,” says Baban. “It is a great joy to watch her show her cub the world outside the mothering den.”
In the wild, mother polar bears invest quite a bit into their young ones. They stay with their cubs for more than two years. They can only produce about five litters in their lifetime. With just one to two cubs per litter, their reproductive rate is among the lowest of all mammals.
There are only 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears left in this world. The Hellabrunn Zoo hopes that its polar bear exhibit will help raise awareness for polar bears in the Arctic.
Read more about Baby Q from our source.