R.I.P. Swimmer - Kleines Frollein, ganz groß!

Swimmer, yesterday in Dierenpark Ouwenhands/Rhenen in Holland...impressed visitors with her energy and agility...Yes, Swimmer was a she, and not a boy, as I had still assumed until this morning...And she could already swim...Remember Knut, who took in comparison ages...He needed 5 months for what little Swimmer just needed 3! (Please don't get me wrong, I speakabout swimming and not about dying).

So she played and swam with her brother, always under the watchful eyes of her mother Huggies who never moved too far from her...taking care of Swimmer, placing her whereever it seemed less dangerous...carrying her in her muzzle whenever she anticipated it as necessary... They were in the water together, Huggies producing big waves from time to time but giving both babes a ride on the back when she thought it was time for a break...But then, from one second to another they dived and Swimmer must have swallowed some water, didn't come up . Huggies noticed immediately that something was wrong and took her out...But for little Swimmer nothing more could be done. The reactions of Huggies and Walker must have been very hard to observe, I will spare you the details here because it will make you cry. At least I think so as it made me cry.

I want to thank Frau Schnatterliese for sending me these photos of yesterday which makes it possible for me to say Farewell to Swimmer in a different way and thanks to her report I have an idea what happened. And so I know now that Swimmer was the one with the power of two and being so tiny was at least during all activities not a handicap as so many thought, me included. An impressive fighter who even dared to give brother Walker a little slap when he finally got the courage to follow her and Huggies into the water...

It is very difficult to accept the rules of life and death, the waste when someone has to leave way too early, this concerns humans as it concerns the animals we have grown fond of, something which can happen in a spit of a second by a photo or by a report of just one day, which was certainly supposed not to be the last visit...

Farewell, kleines großes Frollein Swimmer!
R.I.P.

Photo credits: Frau Schnatterliese
See Frau Schnatterliese's personal account of what happened yesterday, here in German.

For those who want to read the English translation, you will find it here, just click on Kommentare , it's in the first comment.
Again, thank you Liesel for sharing, hope you don't mind some mistakes as I did it fast...

Bad news from Holland...Swimmer didn't make it...

Das ist Mama Huggies mit ihren beiden Kleinen, Walker und Swimmer. Diese Woche hatten sie ihren ersten großen Ausglug nach draußen, sehr zum Vergnügen der Weltüffentlichkeit. Huggies kümmerte sich fürsorglich und den Kleinen schien es gutzugehen, auch wenn der Gewichtsunterschied zwischen den beiden Geschwistern für Fragen sorgte. Heute wurde der kleine Swimmer tot im Gehege aufgefunden. Die Todesursache steht noch nicht fest.

Dies ist eine sehr traurige Meldung, eigentlich hatte ich unten in dem Beitrag zu Japan auch einige Fotos von diesen beiden Kerlchen herausgesucht gehabt, die Nachricht traf sicher nicht nur mich völlig überraschend.

Der Aussenposten wünscht Huggies und dem kleinen Walker alles Gute!

Polar bear cub dies at animal park

Published: Saturday 21 March 2009 14:02 UTC

Visitors to the Ouwehands Animal Park in Rhenen have reported seeing a three-and-half-month old polar bear cub dead in its enclosure. The cub, called Swimmer, was the smallest one of a pair of born on 14 December 2008. Swimmer weighed just four kilos (...) but the other, Walker, weighed 10 kilos. The heavier cub is said to be in good health. Ouwehands authorities say they cannot determine cause of death as yet.

The mother, Huggies, was found on a iceberg off the Siberian coast in 1994 and transported to the Dutch wildlife park.