How do you take care of an elderly polar bear?

Victoria, born in 1996 at Rostock Zoo in Germany, arrived at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park in March 2015.

Three years later she was a media star after giving birth to Hamish – the first polar bear cub to be born in the UK in 25 years.

Visitor numbers to the park soared and its gift shop was stuffed with Hamish cuddly toys and postcards and cards featuring him and his mum.

Hamish was moved to Doncaster’s Yorkshire Wildlife Park in 2020 and shares a 10-acre enclosure with five other male bears – Nobby, Luka, Indiana, Yuma and Sisu.

Victoria gave birth to another male cub – Brodie – in December 2021.

They continue to share an enclosure, but recently keepers noticed she was struggling to keep up with Brodie, who is now three.

He is Victoria’s last cub and she is no longer part of RZSS breeding programme.

The park’s two other bears are males Arktos, 17, and 16-year-old Walker.

They are middle aged in bear terms.

Polar bears can live into their early 30s, but an average of 15 to 18 years in the wild.