DENVER (KCNC/CNN) – The Denver Zoo is anxiously waiting to find out if they are expecting a baby polar bear, and they are counting on a beagle to make the diagnosis.
Zookeepers believe 11-year-old Cranbeary may be pregnant.
She’s one of 17 polar bears around the nation that mated this spring and could be pregnant.
But it’s really tough to tell if a polar bear is expecting. Cranbeary looks healthy, there is no protruding stomach, no outward signs of morning sickness.
Her chef can't tell if she is eating for two. She's certainly hungry.
A romantic rendevouz last spring means she could be cradling a cub this fall.
Elvis the dog has an uncanny ability to sniff the bear's recent droppings to determine if the bear is bearing offspring.
Earlier this year zookeepers started giving Elvis special training to determine if polar bears are pregnant. This is the first time sniffer dogs have been used in this kind of research in any wildlife species.
Elvis will be testing and double testing all the samples in the next two weeks.
His trainer said that Elvis has a 97 percent accuracy rate.
