AP Entertainment

Moscow, 13 March 2012

1. Wide of outdoor enclosure with female polar bear and her three cubs

2. Close of cub walking

3. Mid of three cubs

4. Mid of female polar bear

5. Mid of two cubs playing on rocks, one falling down; female polar bear in foreground

6. Close of cub running around past female polar bear

7. Wide of enclosure with female polar bear and her cubs

8. Mid of polar bear playing with cub

9. Wide of enclosure with female polar bear and cubs

10. Mid of two cubs wrestling

11. Wide of enclosure with female polar bear playing with tyre

12. Mid of cub sitting on snow, reaching up, another cub enters shot, first cub runs away

13. Wide of cage, female polar bear playing with tyre

14. Close of cub in snow, another comes along

15. Close of cub on snow, another one tries to start running, falls down

16. Wide of female polar bear and cubs

17. Mid of three cubs playing near rocks

18. Mid of onlookers

19. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Alevtina Yakunina, pensioner:

"We come here to admire them all the time, we live nearby, and we come here all the time. They are very funny, these small (polar) bear cubs."

20. Mid of zoo caretaker passing by

21. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Stanislav Ilyin, Zoo caretaker:

"Before giving birth, she (the polar bear) refused to eat and about a month before the delivery, we made a bed for her and separated her from the male polar bear. We put her in the bed, prepared the hay, prepared the bear's lair, closed everything (so that there is) complete silence. Then when she stops eating and lays down, there shouldn't be anybody around, because in case of any outside noise, she can rise and disrupt (the delivery) of the cubs. "

22. Wide of polar bear lying on snow, her cubs playing around her

23. Mid of onlookers

24. Wide of onlookers and polar bear and cubs in background

POLAR BEAR CUBS CHARM VISITORS TO MOSCOW ZOO

They have not been named and their genders are still unknown but three polar bear cubs were proving to be popular new attraction at Moscow Zoo on Tuesday.

The cubs were born in November but have only recently grown large enough to start exploring the outside world.

"We come here all the time. They are very funny, these small bear cubs," says Alevtina Yakunina, a visitor to the zoo.

It is the first time Moscow Zoo's polar bear breeding programme has seen a bear give birth to three cubs in a single litter.

But bringing new polar bears into the world has its challenges.

The mother bear refused to eat about a month before delivery and she had also to be given her privacy to protect the unborn cubs.

The polar bear lives mostly within the Arctic Circle and is classified as an threatened species in some parts of the world.

It is the largest carnivore in the world.

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