AssetID: 55836349
Headline: Ice to meet you! Polar bear brothers are introduced for first time at British wildlife park
Caption: WORDS BYLINE: Gavin Musgrove When Brodie met big brother Hamish there was no shortage of bear hugs. This probably shouldn’t come as a surprise as the siblings are very large, cuddly polar bears. The pair were both born at the Highland Wildlife Park, in Scotland, but had never met as Hamish moved to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in 2020. Brodie is four years younger and was born in 2021. He is currently holidaying at the attraction near Doncaster and will return home later this week. But the brothers have had lots of opportunity to make up for lost time and were seen hugging, playfighting and enjoying the pool. Bex Brown, section head of carnivores at the Yorkshire park, said: “When Brodie began his holiday stay with us in December, he had only ever lived with his mum so he was very excited on arrival to see so many other bears. “We initially introduced him to Nobby who is our most social bear. Nobby was able to help him learn essential skills like sharing resources such as food. “Recently we introduced Hamish to Brodie and Nobby and it was lovely to see them all playing together in the water. “Although Hamish and Brodie are brothers this is the first time they have met as there is a four-year age gap so it’s debatable whether they recognise their relation.” She continued: “It’s interesting to see similarities in the brothers. They were both single cubs so they both like their own way and both are big strong Scottish babies! “Some days Brodie uses his cheeky appeal to hold top spot and other days Hamish seems to shine as the big brother who is in charge. “It has been really special for us here at YWP to be able to provide Brodie with this opportunity to develop his social skillset and just this past week we found all three boys cuddle up in one of the caves together from choice! “We will miss Brodie when he returns home.”
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