The first polar bear cub born in the UK this century could be given a new home next to his mum.
Hamish made history when he was born at the Highland Wildlife Park (HWP), near Kingussie in Inverness-shire, in December 2017.
The cub has shared a large enclosure with his mother, Victoria, but he is now approaching the age when they would separate naturally in the wild.
Officials had begun searching for a new home for their star attraction when the European breeding programme was put on hold due to the global pandemic.
Keith Gilchrist, animal collection manager at HWP, said animal transfers had been halted as it is deemed non-essential travel.
Plans are now in place to move one of the animals to a separate part of the bears’ complex once Victoria wants her son to move on.
Mr Gilchrist said: “Luckily we have an adjacent exhibit to where Victoria and Hamish are right now where we could separate them once we start seeing behaviour that would indicate that Victoria has had enough of Hamish and it’s time for him to leave.
“It is just a matter of time before she becomes less tolerant. As Hamish matures the instinct in Victoria will make her push him away.
“The keepers are keeping an eye out and observing for those behaviours day in, day out.
“Thankfully we have an additional space available that we can use once we get there.”
Hamish is still growing but is expected to play his part in the conservation effort for polar bears eventually.
The park is also home to two adult males, Walker and Arktos, who is Hamish’s father. Hamish would not be moved into their enclosure as it could compromise the adult pair’s relationship, and the amount of space they have.
Mr Gilchrist said animals throughout the attraction were coping well with the lack of visitors since the park was forced to close due to government advice on coronavirus and social distancing.
He added: “We are lucky at the Highland Wildlife Park to have such large natural exhibits, which helps to keep the animals as wild as possible. We are certainly not seeing any signs behaviourally to suggest that the animals are missing the visitors.”
Mr Gilchrist also thanked members of the public who have donated more than £41,000 to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) in just a few days after an appeal was launched to help feed hundreds of animals in its collection.
It costs the charity £60,000 per month to feed animals at Edinburgh Zoo and HWP.
