GOLD COAST, Australia (Reuters) — Sea World Australia released video footage on Tuesday (May 2) of two new born polar bear cubs feeding from their mother inside their den.
Sixteen-year-old mother Liya delivered her second litter on April 26, and the cubs, which still have to be named, weighed about 600 grams with a height of 15 centimetres. Fully grown they could stand as tall as 11 feet (3.35 meters) and weigh up to 1,400 pounds (635 kg).
Sea World said in a statement that the cubs will continue to spend their time in the maternity den till July.
Polar bears currently number about 26,000, but their population is expected to fall by a third over the next 35 to 40 years due to melting sea ice in the Arctic, scientists said at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union last December.