Meet Victor..........

F

flavio

Messages
823
Name
Tony
Edit My Images
No
Meet Victor, half a ton of polar bear!

This was my first experience of seeing a live polar bear, many animals
can instill a sense of awe and power, none more so than this fella, he
is huge.
He has been retired from breeding duties, apparently he has sired many of the
captive polar bears in Europe.
He couldn't be released into the wild because he is captive bred himself.

I know a lot of us are not happy with animals in captivity but his new home
at the Yorkshire wildlife park is huge in comparison with the sorts of enclosures
bears have traditionally been kept in.

In his enclosure is a large thirty foot deep lake in which he loves to swim and
at least he has the chance to cool off should the weather get too warm.

Captured with my D800e and Nikon 400mm f2.8e.fl lens.

please click on the image to see the large size, thanks.

original.jpg
 
Last edited:
Actually, I think that is Pixel ;)
 
new2me said:
Actually, I think that is Pixel ;)
Click to expand...

Rustydon said:
Tony, I think Neil could be correct :thinking:
- If we could see a colour image of the bear Tony that may help identify whether or not this is Victor :). Nevertheless still good to see Polar Bears in these superb settings!

Russ
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comments, it's appreciated.
It is definitely Victor in the image, Pixel who is just over half Victors weight and considerably smaller was at the far side of the enclosure, honestly
they are very easy to tell apart!

Seems Victor's cruciate ligament is much better now and he is mobile again and out in the main enclosure.

I've included a photo of Pixel, if you look at the fur on the top left front leg of Victor it is much less dense/long that of Pixel's same leg.
Pixel is also visible less heavily built, the thickness of the lower front legs of Victor are visibly more massive!

Please view Pixel large too, cheers

original.jpg
 
Rustydon said:
Nice to see he is out and about again Tony after injuring his leg playing with the two year old Pixel in the same enclosure :)

Russ
Click to expand...
I don't think they have actually been playing together, Pixel is very nervous and unsure about Victor, not surprising really, in fact Pixel always keeps a good distance between himself
and the big monster :)
 
I concede I might be wrong :D
 
Last edited:
It was the fir in the colour version that clinched it for me initially. When he first arrived, Victor had a green stain to his coat from the algae at his old home (or at least, that's how I heard it) and when I saw him last, he simply absorbed the colour of whatever he rolled around in.
 
Great photos of a couple of magnificent animals. really looking forward to visiting the YWP again soon and getting some similar shots myself. Would love to get some shots of the new born Tiger cubs too.
 
Great shots both of them
As Stuart said magnificent animals
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top