San Diego Zoo Renovates Polar Bear Exhibit to Teach About Global Warming

The San Diego Zoo has an incredible polar bear exhibit, but it has just been renovated with education in mind. The climate changes have been hard on polar bears in the wild. Their natural habitats are dwindling and their food supplies are disappearing. The world famous San Diego Zoo’s Polar Bear Plunge exhibit hopes to educate visitors about the effect of global warming. There are three bears at the Polar Bear Plunge exhibit – 15-year-old Chinook and her nine-year-old brother Kalluk and sister Tatqiq. The $1 million renovation features “the world’s first moveable experience wall.” This wall will be removed … Continue reading

What’s Up with Zoos Considering Evicting Their Residents?

This week there’s been some disturbing stories in the news about zoos considering evicting some of their residents. In particular, the Los Angeles Zoo might evict it’s only elephant, Billy, and the Berlin Zoo is considering ousting what only two years ago was its superstar attraction, Knut the polar bear. Bye Bye Billy? Poor Billy is the center of one heck of a controversy and he doesn’t even know it. It all started when the Los Angeles Zoo started construction on a new enclosure for Billy. Nay, it was to be more than an “enclosure.” It was going to be … Continue reading

Polar Bear Tours

No, not at your local zoo. I’m talking about the real deal—larger than life polar bears in their natural environment. It doesn’t sound as if it would be very tough to arrange, but once you learn that there are only a few places on the face of the earth where you can see polar bears roaming free and, even then, for just a brief window of time, perhaps you will be inspired to act fast. Polar bear lovers are already making their travel plans to Manitoba. According to nature tour guides, during the last weeks of autumn — usually from … Continue reading

The Case of Knut, the Baby Polar Bear, and the Animal Rights Activist

Are you familiar with Knut, the baby polar bear born on December 5, 2006 at the Berlin Zoo in Germany? His mother rejected him and his twin brother at birth. (His twin died four days later.) Knut spent the first 44 days of his life in an incubator. During that time his life hung in the balance. It was similar to another famous polar bear abandonment scene. On November 6, 1994, Klondike and Snow were also abandoned at birth by their mother at the Denver Zoo. They were given only a 50/50 chance of surviving. But survive they did, and … Continue reading