Highland Wildlife Park's new polar bear cub is a male

The cub was microchipped and vaccinated during its health check

A polar bear born at the Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore is male, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has said.

The sex of the cub, which was born in December, was confirmed during a health check.

The zoo is the former home of Hamish, who in 2017 was the first polar bear cub to be born in the UK in 25 years.

Hamish's mother, Victoria, gave birth to the new cub in a den which is closed off to visitors.

During the health check, the cub was microchipped and vaccinated.

RZSS, which owns the park at Kincraig in the Cairngorms National Park, will be asking the public to vote on a name for the bear in coming weeks.

The public will be asked to vote on a name for the bear

Victoria gave birth to Hamish in December 2017.

He was a popular with visitors to the park, at Kincraig near Aviemore, and could often be seen playing with empty barrels in a pond in an enclosure he shared with Victoria.

As part of the breeding programme for the species, Hamish was moved to Doncaster's Yorkshire Wildlife Park in November 2020.

Before Hamish, the last polar bear cubs born in the UK were twins at Flamingo Land in Yorkshire in December 1992.