Polar Bear Sisters Engage in Friendly Game of Tug-Of-War at Oregon Zoo
Siblings fight, even animal siblings. Sometimes the fight is even a friendly one, which is exactly the case when polar bear sisters Nora and Amelia Gray decided to have a tug of war fight at the Oregon Zoo in Portland! KLTV 7 shared a video on YouTube of the two sisters playing in their chilly saltwater pool, and it looks like they were both having some fun.
The girls wrestled in the water and out of the water. They tossed and turned while they pulled and twisted to get the rope away from each other. They even used their paws to push on each other and for leverage! Watch on and see if you can decide who the winner is!
Now that's a game of tug of war I wouldn't want to be involved in! KTLA 7 said that zoo staff shared, "When Nora and Amelia Gray play tug of war, we all win!" I'm sure it's a lot of fun to watch, especially if you can be there to see it happen in person!
Related: Polar Bear at Brookfield Zoo Celebrates 17th Birthday with His Favorite Things
Facts About Polar Bears and Playing
According to Polar Bears International, polar bears love to play. They use vocalizations and body language to let others know they're looking for some fun; one sign that they use often is wagging their heads from side to side.
But their play doesn't look like fun, it looks like fighting. "Adult bears initiate play—which is actually ritualized fighting or mock battling—by standing on their hind legs, chin lowered to their chests, with front paws hanging by their sides." These fights are important because they're actually practicing for future battles and learning how to hone their skills to become fiercer fighters.
Most fights occur during breeding season between males, but females will fight too. They are extremely protective of their cubs and will protect them at all costs. You know what they say about mama bears!
Polar bear cubs have been spotted playing with things that they've found, like sticks, rocks, and in captivity, they'll play with balls. They've also been seen playing with other animals.
Although it doesn't have to do with play, I found another interesting fact about polar bears from WWF. Did you know that polar bears are actually classified as marine animals? This is because they spend the majority of their lives on sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and depend on the ocean for their food and habitat. And on that note, polar bears can swim for days at a time! The longest polar bear swim ever recorded was a female that swam more than 400 miles over the course of 9 days. While most polar bears don't swim quite that far, it's not unusual for them to swim up to 60 miles at a time. Either way, that's a lot of swimming for anybody and it makes me tired just thinking about how much work that would be!
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