1942 Polar bear

Photo: Josef Seget

Uniquely hand reared

Somewhat paradoxically, Prague Zoo achieved an extraordinary result during the war. Although polar bears were a common animal to be kept in zoos, none of them had managed to get them to reproduce. On 20 December 1942, Nora the polar bear gave birth to two females, however she had not been able to take care of her previous cubs. This led the zoo staff to make the decision to hand rear the cubs, which had never been done before in any other zoo. The older cub died after four days, but the younger one did well. At 5 months, Ilun (a.k.a. Sněhulka, Snow White) was moved to the enclosure, where she was immediately able to swim and dive. Further success came in 1960 with the first polar bear to be naturally bred in Czechoslovakia, a female named Severka.

The then director of Prague Zoo, Colonel Jan Vlasák MVDr, and his wife managed to raise the bear cub in their flat. Ilun was fed on cow’s milk and fish oil. By the time she had grown enough to switch to solid diet, she had learnt how to charm food out of everyone she met.

Ilun’s story was famous at the time. It was reported in the British press and Jan Vlasák turned it into a book that was published in London in 1949 and republished two years later in New York. It wasn’t until 2012 that Prague Zoo published the Czech edition.