Inuka (

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

for "foreboding strength") was a male

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

and one of the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

s of the

Singapore Zoo The Singapore Zoo, formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens or Mandai Zoo, is a zoo located on the margins of Upper Seletar Reservoir within Singapore's heavily forested central catchment area. It is operated by the Mandai Wildl ...

. Born and housed in a climate-controlled enclosure, he was the world's only "tropical polar bear".

Biography

Inuka was born in the Singapore Zoo in 1990, the result of an extensive

breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...

programme run by the zoo and was the first and only polar bear to be born in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

. There have been four polar bears at Singapore Zoo altogether—Nanook, Sheba and their offspring Inuka, as well as another female, Anana. Nanook and Sheba arrived at the Singapore Zoo in 1978, from

Assiniboine Park Zoo Assiniboine Park Zoo is a List of zoos in Canada, zoo facility located in the west end of Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Established in 1904, Assiniboine Park Zoo is managed by the Assiniboine Park Conservancy. It holds accredita ...

in Canada and

Cologne Zoo The Aktiengesellschaft Cologne Zoological Garden is the zoo of Cologne, Germany. Being the third oldest zoo in Germany, it features over 10,000 animals of more than 850 species on more than 20 hectares. The internationally renowned zoo with an a ...

in Germany respectively. Nanook was 11 months old and was captured in the wild, while Sheba was 14 months old and born in captivity. To ease them in, they arrived in the early hours of the morning when the temperature was coolest. Like most zoo animals, one of each sex was brought in for

mating In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. ''Fertilization'' is the fusion of two gametes. '' Copulation'' is the union of the sex organs of two sexually repr ...

and conservation purposes. Anana, a female polar bear caught in the wild, arrived from Canada in 1979. She died in 1999. On 26 December 1990, Sheba gave birth to a 350-gram male cub. The cub was named Inuka, chosen from amongst 390 names suggested in a nationwide naming contest. More than 10,000 entries were received, including names like Arctos and Shardik. In 1993, ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'' named Inuka as one of "28 people and things to call our own", alongside national swimmer

Joscelin Yeo Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling (; born 2 May 1979) is a former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) from Nov 2006 to Apr 2011 and a former competitive swimmer from Singapore. Yeo won 40 gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games. She also represented ...

, the

Vanda Miss Joaquim ''Papilionanthe'' Miss Joaquim, also known as the Singapore orchid, the Princess Aloha orchid, and commonly known by its original name ''Vanda'' Miss Joaquim, is a hybrid orchid (a grex) that is the national flower of Singapore. For its resi ...

and the Singapore Sling. Inuka's father, Nanook, died on 29 December 1995 at the age of 18. He had been suffering from chronic

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

and

lung disease The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syst ...

. The Singapore-born polar bear was raised by his mother Sheba. Sheba died on 15 November 2012 at the age of 35. She had been under treatment since September 2012 for loss of strength in her hind limbs, but her condition worsened and was put down after a close evaluation showed that her prognosis was poor. In 2000, 300 guests had free cake at Inuka's 10th birthday bash. In 2001, Inuka was named by the Singapore Zoo as a possible replacement for the ageing

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

Ah Meng as the zoo's mascot, among other candidates like

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

Sang Raja and orangutan Hong Bao. However, nothing materialised. Inuka has been adopted by the SPH Foundation, which is the charity arm of

Singapore Press Holdings Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) was one of Singapore's two state media companies, which published ''The Straits Times'', numerous other newspapers and operated radio, television and digital media. In 2021, the media division was spun ...

(SPH), since birth. SPH co-organises events together with

Wildlife Reserves Singapore Mandai Wildlife Group is a self-funded organisation based in Singapore which manages the Mandai Wildlife Reserve at Mandai in Singapore, which includes the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, Singapore, Night Safari, River Wonders, Bird Paradise and R ...

(WRS), such as his birthday parties.

Habitat

In 2006, it was revealed that the Singapore Zoo had contacted Polar Bear International Studbook keepers based in Rostock Zoo in Germany to have Inuka included in the list of bears available for transfer as part of an "animal exchange programme", such that Inuka would be moved to a zoo in Europe when his mother passes on.Teo Cheng Wee, "Parting will be such sweet sorrow", ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', 31 December 2006 The zoo decided to focus on polar bears in 2006 as it could be their final year in Singapore. The SPH Foundation will sponsor Inuka's upkeep until he is transferred. Inuka's 16th birthday party in 2006 saw the attendance of more than fifty guests, and included an ice carving as well as a birthday cake made of ice filled with apples and fish, topped with sixteen carrot sticks representing candles. In May 2007, the Singapore Zoo announced that Inuka will stay at the zoo even after Sheba dies, contrary to the earlier decision to send him to a temperate-country zoo when that happens. The decision was made on the recommendation of the zoo's Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee. However, there were no plans to import any more polar bears. Meanwhile, the zoo stated it was looking into improving the facilities, including providing better

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

and a soft area for them to walk on.Mak Mun San, "Inuka the polar bear to stay on in sunny Singapore", ''

'', 3 May 2007 In August 2010, WRS announced that the polar bears in the Singapore Zoo would be the highlight of a Frozen Tundra exhibit in the $180 million

River Safari River Wonders, formerly known as River Safari, is a river-themed zoo and aquarium located in Mandai, Singapore, it forms a part of the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, consisting of the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and Bird Paradise and the upc ...

theme park, which was due to open in 2012 on 12ha of land between the zoo and the Night Safari. This is contrary to the earlier claims by the zoo to focus more on Tropical rainforest animals, suitable for the weather conditions in Singapore. ACRES congratulated the zoo for building a bigger and climate-controlled enclosure for the bears, but criticised the zoo for contradicting its own message with regard to fighting global warming. In 2013, it was announced that the previously announced Frozen Tundra would be moved to the Singapore Zoo, instead of being inside the River Safari. Some new species such as

wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

s and

raccoon dog ''Nyctereutes'' (Greek: ''nyx, nykt-'' "night" + ''ereutēs'' "wanderer") is a genus of canid which includes only two extant species, both known as raccoon dogs: the common raccoon dog (''Nyctereutes procyonoides'') and the Japanese raccoon do ...

s have also been added to the exhibit.

Health concerns

In 2004, Inuka and his mother had

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

growing on their hair shafts and visitors thought that the zoo actually painted them green. The zoo said that the algae was harmless and singled out the hot, humid climate as the cause. To remove the algae, the zoo first sprayed the two bears with

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...

. That same year in 2004, controversies started over the polar bear enclosure at the zoo and Inuka and Sheba's behaviour. The enclosure was a mere size of 391 m² compared to its huge Arctic habitat which can spread an area of over 80,000 km². The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) discussed with the zoo a proposal to move Inuka to a

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

country zoo. According to a study by the society in 2005, Sheba and Inuka were showing signs of behavioural and physical distress such as signs of heat stress, high levels of inactivity, high levels of abnormal stereotypical behaviour, and performing unusual behaviours such as waving and ringing a bell at feeding shows. ACRES claimed that the pool's temperature was at 17 °C, much higher than the water conditions in the Arctic. ACRES asked the zoo again to improve his enclosure. The Singapore Zoo said the bears were kept in good conditions citing that Inuka was born in the tropics. It will not import anymore Arctic animals as it is planning to become a

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

themed zoo. The zoo also spent S$200,000 upgrading the polar bears' facilities, installing another

air-conditioner Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

in the den and adding

mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a Dispersion (chemistry), dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets ...

ing fans and netted shades over the enclosure to keep it at 22 °C. In 2018, WRS announced that Inuka was less active than usual. He underwent a health examination on 3 April 2018 and the results revealed that his health was declining. His keepers reported that Inuka's activity levels had dipped noticeably and he preferred resting over the daily keeper interactions he used to enjoy. Daily interaction sessions at his exhibit were suspended. A second health examination was conducted on 25 April 2018 to give further clarity on how he was faring. The results showed Inuka was not improving despite extensive treatment. Singapore Zoo decided not to revive him from anaesthesia and he was subsequently put down on 25 April 2018 at around 9:30am.

Preservation of Inuka’s body remains

According to ''

'', Inuka's

skeletal A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fram ...

remains will be preserved and used in

schools A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of ...

for educational purposes.

References

External links