Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-05-06
McDeott Trial Nears Jury Defense Offers No Testimony
Rarest Bear Cubs Greet Crowds
KadakPolar Hybds Inherit Mixture of Habits and Physical
characteristics and Are Shy at Big World.

Three small gray-broWn bear cubs
the only ones of their kind in the
world-were on exhibition today at
the washington Zoo after making
their shy debut yesterday afternoon.
The cubs-offspring of a Polar
father and Kadiak mother-are DIFF
fident about appearing in public,
however, and DR.. william M. Mann,
zoo director, does not guarantee all
visitors glimpse of the rare animals.
In fact, says DR.. Mann, it probably
will be several weeks before the cubs
are accustomed to public gaze.
The tiny bears are the center of
wide attention not only because they
are cunning little humps of baby
hood" (as a feminine admirer de-
scribed them yesterday but also be-
cause they are hybirds which have
never before survived birth. biologists
throughout the world are watching
their development with scientific
curiosity.
Weighing only Is ounces each, the
cubs were born last January in the
Geological Parks hospital. A. fourth
baby of the family died a few weeks
after birth when the 700-pound
mother accidently kicked it from shell
ter. The survivors are now healthy
looking balls of fur weighing IA
pounds each.
Crowd Nearly Disappointed.
Yesterday a large crowd and
hn tforty If
raphers lined the spiked tops OF the
bear cage when DR.. Mann announced
the cubs would be exposed to public
view for the first time They were
almost disappointed, however, for the
timid little animals cringed in the
black depths Of their stone cave
while their mother blocked the door
with her massive body.
When zoo keeper tossed a hand
full of peanuts into the cage the
kadiak protruded her shaggy brown
head, shifted the air, emerged half
way and then backed to her guard
post.
A female polar bear III the next
cage-the legitimate mate to the large
white animal which fathered the
hybrids-raised on her launches to
eye the kadiak and then began a vio-
lent pacing behind her bars. Once
she leaped up the side of the cage,
her fangs falling only short distance
from a camera man perched atop the
spiked fence.
The polar father Of the cubs was
locked in a next-door cave, out of
sight. Evidently he sensed something
was happening, however, for he
walked the floor like a worried hus-
band in a hospital corridor.
Mother Coaxed Out.
coaxing, the mother bear emerged
from the cave and nosed among the
rocks within the large iron pen. Bear
keepers promptly entered the cave
from the rear, barred the door to the
mother and carried out the cubs for
the world to see.
The tiny bears blinked in the sun
light and squalled a violent protest,
while their mother threw herself
against the bars of the cave in an
effort to get near them. The affair
ended happily. however. for the moth
er and her kadiak-pclar cubs were
reunited in the cage short while
later.
When she made certain that her
children had not been harmed the
Kadiak proudly reared on her hind
legs in series of posses for the pic
lures. Then she jealously rolled the
cubs away from public view, back into
their home this Summer
The hybrid represented in the three
little cubs is extremely rare, DR.. Mann
said, because they were produced by
parents different not only in species
but also in genus. The parental male
and female, he explained, have fun
damentally different habits. The polar
bear is a strictly carniverous animal,
while the Kadiak is herbivorous.
Differences in physical character
istics have already been noted. The
white fur coat of the father and
the brown coat of the mother are
both represented in the gray-brown
complexion of two of the cubs. True
to the laws of heredity, however, one
OF the cubs has a consistent brown
fur, similar to that of the mother.
The new bears will be kept in a
specially prepared cage and cave along
the row of bear homes in the Zoo
throughout the Summer, DR.. Mann
announced. They are expected to at
tract biologists from all parts of the
country.