{"id":895722,"date":"2026-10-26T22:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/895722\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T22:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:56:13","slug":"minnesota-zoo-como-park-zoo-welcome-orphaned-bear-cubs-antelope-calves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/895722\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Zoo, Como Park Zoo welcome orphaned bear cubs, antelope calves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quick Read<\/p>\n

Three orphaned bear cubs from Alaska now have a home at the Minnesota Zoo. They’ll make their public debut next spring. And the Como Park Zoo in St. Paul welcomed two antelope calves this month.<\/p>\n

Two Minnesota zoos are celebrating new arrivals this month \u2014 with three orphaned brown bear cubs from Alaska arriving at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley and two nyala calves born at the Como Park Zoo in St. Paul.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dillingham is one of three orphaned sibling brown bear cubs that arrived at the Minnesota Zoo this month.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Minnesota Zoo<\/p>\n

The three cubs are siblings \u2014 brothers Brooks and Dillingham, and sister Bristol \u2014 and are about nine months old. They were found in July near King Salmon, Alaska, with no sign of their mother for nearly a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnable to survive on their own, the cubs were rescued by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and transferred to the Alaska Zoo in August. Although their mother was never located, one cub was treated for minor injuries consistent with a bear attack, suggesting the family may have encountered an adult male bear,\u201d Minnesota Zoo officials said Monday.<\/p>\n

The cubs arrived in Minnesota earlier this month. Their names are nods to the region where they were found. They\u2019ll be kept behind the scenes to acclimate, before making their public debut next spring.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe cubs are currently adjusting well to their new surroundings and caregivers at the Minnesota Zoo’s Animal Hospital. They are enthusiastic eaters, enjoying fruits, vegetables and fish \u2014 including a pallet of salmon sent as a parting gift from the Alaska Zoo,\u201d zoo officials reported.<\/p>\n

The bear cubs\u2019 arrival brings back memories of another trio of bears \u2014 Sadie, Haines and Kenai \u2014 that arrived at the Minnesota Zoo in 2008<\/a>, becoming the first residents of the zoo\u2019s Russia\u2019s Grizzly Coast habitat. They also were found as orphaned cubs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brooks and his two siblings will be kept behind the scenes at the zoo until next spring.\n<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Minnesota Zoo<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly special to begin that journey again,\u201d Diana Weinhardt, curator of the zoo\u2019s Northern Trail, said in a news release. \u201cThese cubs have a bright future ahead of them, and we look forward to watching them grow while inspiring a new generation of guests to appreciate and protect bears in the wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

The zoo said that once the cubs make their public debut, they\u2019ll alternate time in the habitat with Sadie, who\u2019s now 21 years old.<\/p>\n

Nyala calves at Como Park Zoo<\/p>\n

The first of Como Park Zoo\u2019s new nyala calves is Hubert, born to mom Stevie on Oct. 3. He was joined by a yet-to-be-named female calf, born to first-time mom Meadow on Friday. <\/p>\n

\u201cNyala calves are absolutely adorable, with their big ears and beautiful striped coats, and having two arrive so close together makes this an especially exciting time,\u201d senior zookeeper Jill Erzar said in a news release. \u201cVisitors may now catch a glimpse of Stevie and Hubert in their indoor habitat, while we\u2019re giving Meadow and her little one more time to bond behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hubert was named by guests at a Como Friends event last week. It was one of three options, each honoring the grandfather of a zookeeper. The other calf will be named by zoo volunteers at an event next month.<\/p>\n

Nyala are spiral-horned antelope that are native to southern Africa.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Two nyala calves — Hubert on the right, and a yet-to-be-named female calf on the left — are seen at the Como Park Zoo in St. Paul. Nyala are a kind of antelope that are native to southern Africa.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Como Park Zoo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quick Read Three orphaned bear cubs from Alaska now have a home at the Minnesota Zoo. They’ll make…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-895722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}