Birthday bears: The pair wrestle playfully in their enclosure. Pic: © SWNS
A pair of polar bears were in their element as they celebrated their first birthdays together in Scotland with ice cakes and several inches of fresh snow on Wednesday.
Walker, aged four, and Arktos, five, enjoyed a joint party with frozen treats laden with tasty fish at their Highland Wildlife Park enclosure in Kingussie.
The pair are the only polar bears in the UK and since Arktos was flown over from Germany in April to share Walker's six-acre field, they have become inseparable.
Although they do not eat as much food in the winter, the two youngsters are still growing and they found enough room to tuck into two ice fish cakes with a few salmon on the top as a treat.
Una Richardson, head keeper at the park, said: "They've had a great time as for their birthdays they've solely been given lots of their favourite foods.
"We've also got plenty of snow up here at the moment and it certainly seems to make them feel at home.
"They've been more playful, rolling in the snow and they have been enjoying chasing each other around the enclosure - they've been very active."
The two 450kg bears are still two years away from sexual maturity where keepers will hope to introduce a female into the camp.
By then, Arktos and Walker will be a massive 800kg, but only the calmest will be given the opportunity to mate with the new bear.
Ms Richardson said: "We're hoping to bring a female into the collection at a later date, but she'll actually have her own enclosure because she needs to be on her own during pregnancy and rearing of any subsequent cubs.
"Whether it is Walker or Arktos who gets to go into the enclosure to meet her will depend on whether either of them are genetically related to the female.
"If it comes down to the genetics that would make the decision for us but if it came down to temperance I would probably go for Walker at the moment because he's a very relaxed, laid-back bear.
"So when that time comes, one of the boys will go for a wee holiday to the female's enclosure and then he'll go back in with his pal."
Douglas Richardson, animal collection manager at the park, added: "[Walker and Arktos] can often be spotted splashing and swimming in their pond, wrestling playfully and even feeding nose to nose - they definitely have a healthy competitive relationship that you'd expect from two young bears.
"As male polar bears are much more sociable there is still many years of wrestling and chasing one another for these young polar bears to come."
