C/U Polar bear 'Shilka' walking around

M/S Polar bear 'Shilka' walking around her pen

W/S Polar bear 'Shilka' walking around

C/U Sign with description of a polar bear

SOT, Evgeniya Pirozhkova, Zookeeper (Russian): "At the moment everything is quiet. Shilka and Gerda are not anxious anymore. The first two days were very stressful for them, because they lived together for a year. She [Gerda] was bringing her [Shilka] up and was feeding her. They were looking for each other. And now everything is alright. They've started eating, everything is back to how it should be."

M/S 'Shilka' walking around her cage

SCRIPT

Shilka, the first polar bear born in a Siberian Zoo in 40 years, started showing signs of recovery in Novosibirsk on Monday, after being separated from her mother Gerda last week.

Born in December last year, Shilka became a global star after melting the hearts of animal lovers in a series of cute pictures with her mother, Gerda. The 11-month-old cub, who is already 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) in length, is currently preparing to fly the nest for a new life in a zoo in Brazil or Japan, as Novosibirsk Zoo can no longer afford her upkeep.

Zookeeper, Evgeniya Pirozhkova, said that mother and cub struggled in the first few days of separation but are now doing well.

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