Seattle: They’re rare and precious, they’re the only surviving cubs born over the past year at any zoo in North America, and they’re at Woodland Park Zoo! The twin male cubs and mom remain off public view in a maternity den to help ensure the cubs’ health. They are unnamed and currently weigh between 10 and 11 pounds apiece. The zoo hopes to put the cubs on public exhibit by late April or early May.

Zoo staff and volunteers continue to monitor the new family via a closed-circuit monitor. According to the zoo’s General Curator Dr. Nancy Hawkes, the cubs are healthy and mom is showing excellent maternal care. “Like typical bear cubs, they’re very playful and curious,” added Dr. Hawkes, “and they are scampering about and demonstrating very good physical motor skills.” The cubs were born to 5-year-old mother Khali (call-LEE) and 8-year-old Randy.

Beginning Sunday, March 21, the zoo will offer visitors special talks about the cubs. Staff will show exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photos, and discuss significant milestones, animal care, maternal behavior and the rarity of sloth bear births in zoos. The talks will be offered 1:30 to 2:00 p.m. every Sunday, and Saturday, April 10 only, at the zoo’s Auditorium. Free with zoo admission, the talks will continue through June 27.

Sloth bear births are very rare in zoos and very little is known about the endangered species both in zoos and in the wild. Only 18 individuals exist in North American zoos. As a leader in captive reproduction, Woodland Park Zoo was chosen to breed its pair under the sloth bear Species Survival Plan (SSP), a cooperative breeding program to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability in North American zoos. Native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, sloth bears face threats of habitat loss and the demand for bear parts in traditional Asian medicines. In the wild, fewer than 10,000 remain.

For updates and more information about sloth bears, log onto the zoo’s Species Spotlight section. Zoo admission fees range from free for toddlers to $10.00 for adults. For more information, call the zoo at 206.684.4800.

Accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, top award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting a standard for zoos all over the world. With conservation, education and excellent animal care at the core of the zoo’s mission, the zoo is helping to save endangered species in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring visitors and others to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.