The survival of two polar bear cubs at a zoo in the German city of Karlsruhe is at grave risk, DPA reports.
They were born over the weekend and were mother Nuka's first children.
Veterinarians hope the cubs will survive, but zoo spokesman Timo Deible said that was unlikely. “Everyone knows that a first birth has a lot of risks,” she said.
If the cubs do not survive, it is normal and only nature knows its way, the spokesperson added.
Polar bears usually hide in specially designed dens weeks before giving birth, but the zoo said the two cubs were born in an outdoor enclosure. Even under optimal conditions, the survival rate is only about 50 percent, the DPA notes.
The bear's gender is unknown and it has not been named.
“We're not thinking about that at all at the moment,” the spokesman said, adding that their chances of survival were slim.
The cubs' birthplace has been fenced off, isolated to provide more privacy for the animals, and the zoo has halted construction work elsewhere to minimize noise disturbance, the DPA said.
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