Nora, a polar bear cub born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, Ohio, took her first public swim on Friday, once again sparking squeals of delight for the almost unbearably cute animal.
The zoo released videos of the 5-month-old polar bear’s public outing on Facebook and YouTube on Friday.
Nora was born Nov. 6 and captured the world’s attention in December when the zoo posted videos of her snoozing and cuddling with a toy. Friday’s videos show a much changed but no less adorable Nora in rambunctious play.
Visitors to the zoo can see Nora for about an hour each day starting at 9:30 a.m.,
according to the zoo’s website. Viewing times will be expanded as she grows.
Zoo workers hand-reared the Nora after her mother began leaving her alone for prolonged periods of time. The cub, who weighed about a pound at birth, now weighs more than 50 pounds.
"We slept here overnight, monitored her temperature, fed her, cleaned her, everything," Shannon Morarity, an assistant curator and one of Nora's five "polar moms,"
told The Columbus Dispatch. "Every bit of it was worth it. This is a magnificent accomplishment for the zoo and I'm very proud."
About 1,000 people were at the zoo on Friday for Nora’s debut. She is the first polar bear in 27 years to be born at the zoo and survive, the paper noted. Her twin cub died soon after birth.
The public named Nora, by combining the names of her parents, Nanuq and Aurora,
Cleveland.com reported.
Female polar bears can weigh up to 650 pounds and usually live to their late 30s in captivity,
according to Polar Bears International. In the wild, polar bears are found across the Arctic, Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland, and Norway. Their status is vulnerable with about 26,000 of them left in the wild.
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