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Two polar bear cubs at a Hungarian zoo saw snow for the first time in a viral videoThe cubs, born in November 2024, are shown playing and rolling through their snowy enclosureThe heartwarming moment quickly gained traction across social media platforms
Two polar bear cubs at a zoo in eastern Hungary are winning over the internet after a sweet first encounter with snow. The cubs, born at the Sóstó Zoo in Nyíregyháza in November 2024, are seen delighting in the winter weather in a now-viral video.
The footage, posted on Jan. 7, captures the moment the young bears step into their snow-covered enclosure for the first time. They immediately begin rolling around and wrestling with each other, turning the fresh snowfall into a playground.
The zoo shared the clip on its official Facebook page, where it quickly resonated with viewers. The post had since drawn more than 30,000 likes, with one commenter writing that their “heart felt some sort of peace” after watching the cubs play.
The moment spread even further when Hungarian journalist Szabolcs Panyi posted a short clip of the bears on X. His post earned 2.4 million views, 130,000 likes and 9,500 reposts in just one day, sending the cubs’ first snow day far beyond the zoo’s walls.
As the video continues to circulate, viewers share emotional reactions to seeing the animals encounter snow for the first time. “Imagine seeing something like this for the first time and feeling in a deep, biological way that you were made for it,” one commenter writes.
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Others reflect more critically on the moment, questioning what it represents. “Polar bears having seen snow for the first time in their lives shouldn’t even be a sentence,” another viewer comments, while someone else notes the cubs’ visible joy alongside concerns about keeping polar bears in climates that are not naturally their own.
For the young cubs, the experience marks a joyful milestone just months after their birth. For everyone watching, it becomes a rare pause filled with tenderness, wonder and complicated feelings sparked by a few quiet moments in the snow.