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Animal lovers in Berlin got a shock on Tuesday when it was revealed that the parents of beloved polar bear Hertha are actually brother and sister.
The young Hertha – named after the local football team – was born in the Tierpark zoo in east Berlin in December 2018.
Her mother, Tonya, was born in Moscow in 2009, but was given the wrong documents, Tierpark director Andreas Knieriem said on Tuesday.
Volodya, Hertha's father, was sent to the Netherlands in 2019 from Berlin. He had the same parents as Tonya, according to the zoo's announcement on Tuesday.

The discovery was made when a biologist at the Moscow Zoo noticed contradictory information about Tonya's date of birth in old documents.
It turned out that another female polar bear was born in Moscow at around the same time.
A genetic analysis confirmed the suspicions that there had been a mix-up.
“This serious mistake is a regrettable setback for the careful work undertaken by the European breeding programme,” Knieriem said. He added, however, that this had been a case of human error and he did not ascribe any blame to Moscow. The staff there had been entirely transparent, he said.
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Animal experts noted that there had been suspicions that Volodya and Tonya were related when the male bear arrived in Berlin in 2013. But the Tierpark had rejected the reports, said James Brueckner from the German Animal Welfare Federation.
The discovery means that Tonya will not be allowed to have any more cubs.
Hertha and her mother would still stay in Berlin for the time being, Knieriem said. Experts said that Hertha's incestuous origins did not have any ramifications for the young polar bear's health.
Polar bears are endangered and there are only about 20,000 to 25,000 living in the wild.


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Shock as Berlin zoo reveals beloved polar bear Hertha’s parents are siblings

The polar bear Hertha lies on the snow in Berlin’s Tierpark. Photo: DPA

FILED - 03 January 2020, Berlin: Female Polar bear Hertha plays inside her enclosure at the Berlin Zoo. Animal lovers in Berlin got a shock on Tuesday when it was revealed that the parents of beloved polar bear Hertha are actually brother and sister. Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa

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A polar bear is seen in Manitoba, Canada, in 2012. Photo: Polar Bears International / AFP

(FILES) This file photo taken on October 31, 2018 shows polar bears feeding at a garbage dump near the village of Belushya Guba, on the remote Russian northern Novaya Zemlya archipelago, a tightly-controlled military area where a village declared a state of emergency in February after dozens of bears were seen entering homes and public buildings. - Climate change is starving polar bears into extinction, according to research published on July 20, 2020 that predicts the apex carnivores could all but disappear within the span of a human lifetime. In some regions they are already caught in a vicious downward spiral, with shrinking sea ice cutting short the time bears have for hunting seals, while dwindling body weight undermines their chances of surviving Arctic winters without food, scientists reported in Nature Climate Change. The study calculates "timelines of risk" for different polar bear demographics, exploring two alternative futures with different levels of greenhouse gas emission

A handout photo made available on July 17, 2020 by Polar Bears International shows a polar bear with its cubs in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, in 2015. - Climate change is starving polar bears into extinction, according to research published on July 20, 2020 that predicts the apex carnivores could all but disappear within the span of a human lifetime. In some regions they are already caught in a vicious downward spiral, with shrinking sea ice cutting short the time bears have for hunting seals, while dwindling body weight undermines their chances of surviving Arctic winters without food, scientists reported in Nature Climate Change. The study calculates "timelines of risk" for different polar bear demographics, exploring two alternative futures with different levels of greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric concentrations of CO2. If business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions continue, it’s likely that all but a few polar bear populations will collapse by 2100. (Photo by Kt MILLER / PO

A polar bear and its cubs are seen in Manitoba, Canada, in 2007. Photo: Polar Bear International / AFP

Over 50 polar bears gather outside village in Russia, as Arctic sea ice shrinks

More than 50 polar bears have gathered on the edge of a village in Russia's far north, unable to roam because of weak coastal ice. Photo: AFP

This handout photo taken on December 3, 2019 and released by the World Wildlife Fund - Russia (WWF-Russia) shows polar bears outside the village of Ryrkaypiy in the Chukotka region. - More than 50 polar bears have gathered on the edge of a village in Russia's far north, environmentalists and residents said, as weak coastal ice leaves them unable to roam. (Photo by Maksim DYOMINOV / World Wildlife Fund - Russia / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / World Wildlife Fund Russia / Maksim DYOMINOV" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS --- NO ARCHIVE ---

- AFP PICTURES OF THE YEAR 2019 - A stray polar bear walks on a road on the outskirts of the Russian industrial city of Norilsk on June 17, 2019. - A hungry polar bear has been spotted on the outskirts of Norilsk, hundreds of miles from its natural habitat, authorities said on June 18, 2019. (Photo by Irina Yarinskaya / Zapolyarnaya pravda newspaper / AFP)

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The mother, Tonya, had been given documents belonging to another female born in Moscow at around the same time
The mistake is a blow for the breeding programme, and means Tonya will no longer be allowed to have more cubs



The mistake is a blow for the breeding programme, and means the mother, Tonya, will no longer be allowed to have more cubs.


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