The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Polar Bear The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Polar Bear
Showing posts with label Polar Bear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Polar Bear. Show all posts

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Alaskan Town's Polar Bear Problem Leads to Tourism Boom


Polar bears are an enduring symbol of the wild arctic, a mighty beast that has made its home in punishing terrains. But in recent years, the polar bear has come to embody something else: A creature caught in a world that’s disappearing under its feet.

Each fall, the bears descend in hordes on the tiny Alaskan village of Kaktovik, located on Barter Island, hugging the state’s northern coast.

And the bears are hungry.

Polar bears wandering into the town, with its population of just 239 people, proved to be such a problem there that a polar bear patrol now sweeps the streets looking for the animals.

To read more on this story, click here: Alaskan Town's Polar Bear Problem Leads to Tourism Boom



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Saturday, May 9, 2015

The St. Louis Zoo Now Has a New 850-Pound Bear: Delivered by FedEx


The St. Louis Zoo welcomes an orphaned 850-pound bear, delivered by FedEx.

The two-year-old male named Kali, was orphaned as a cub, arrived at his new home on Friday.

The bear was shipped in by plane and truck ahead of its scheduled June 6 debut at the zoo's new Polar Bear Point Exhibit.

Zoo authorities say that Kali was resting comfortably and would remain in quarantine for about a month, which is standard practice that allows an animal to become acclimated to its new home.

Kali spent the past two years at the Buffalo Zoo after he was orphaned in Alaska's wilderness, when a hunter unknowingly killed his mother, unaware she had a cub.
Kali's latest adventure came Tuesday, when FexEx - having over the years handled everything from endangered sea turtles to seals and pandas - stepped in with air and ground transportation to get a bear halfway across the country.

Kali caught a three-hour flight on a FedEx Express 767 jet from Rochester, New York, to Memphis, Tennessee, secured in a specially designed, half-ton aluminum crate while monitored by a veterinarian and two attendants, the company said in its blog.

The crate was placed behind the cockpit wall, allowing a Buffalo zoo representative and Steve Bircher, the St. Louis Zoo's curator of mammals and carnivores, to monitor and hydrate him and 'basically talk to him,' said Susan Gallagher, the St. Louis zoo's spokeswoman.

At Memphis, FedEx said, the bear was wheeled to a waiting company truck, its drivers trained in handling sensitive shipments.

Attendants who followed in a vehicle frequently checked Kali's condition, providing water along the way during the five-hour drive in which the bear was in a cargo area kept at 55 degrees.

Kali's new digs are a 40,000-square-foot habitat offering visitors starting in a month a glimpse of him through a 22-foot window.

'We applaud the work of the Saint Louis Zoo and wish Kali a bright and happy future in his new home,' Neil Gibson, FedEx's vice president of corporate communications, said in a statement Friday.



Boxed up: Kali’s transportation on May 5 from Rochester, New York, to St. Louis was donated by FedEx.



Tracking: Kali flew on board a FedEx Express flight from Rochester to Memphis, and then a temperature-controlled truck transport via FedEx Custom Critical from Memphis to St. Louis.



The St. Louis Zoo Now Has A New 850-Pound Bear: Delivered by FedEx.




Helping hand: The Saint Louis Zoo’s veterinarian and animal care staff accompanied him on the day-long journey.


His story: Kali came to St. Louis from the Buffalo Zoo, where he has lived since May 2013. In March 2013, he was orphaned by an Alaskan hunter who unknowingly killed Kali’s mother in a subsistence hunt.

                                         
Thirsty work: Vets accompanied Kali so he could be fed and watered during the move.



Packing up: Staff from the zoo and shipping company took extra care to make sure he wasn't in too much distress.





Special cargo: The entire journey from Buffalo, NY to St. Louis took a whole day.


Nice people: “FedEx is committed to the conservation of at-risk animal populations, and we’re proud to have played a part in Kali’s journey,” said Neil Gibson, vice president FedEx corporate communications.




Meet him in St. Louis: "Kali arrived safe and sound and is adjusting nicely to his new surroundings," said Saint Louis Zoo Curator of Carnivores Steve Bircher.



How he has grown: Incredible to see how large Kali has grown in the two years since this picture was taken. It would also have been far easier to ship at this size!




How he used to look! This picture was taken when Kali was just a cub. He was taken to Alaska Zoo in Anchorage.



New home: Kali’s new home is a 40,000-square-foot habitat that offers visitors a 22-foot viewing window, where the polar bear can come right up to the glass to greet guests.



On ice: The sea water area features a 1,000-square-foot Arctic room with a four-panel viewing wall.
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Sunday, February 15, 2015

Boris the Polar Bear Has 3 Teeth Pulled at Washington Zoo


Tacoma, Wash. (AP) - Boris the 29-year-old polar bear is eating only soft foods for a while after having surgery to remove three broken or decayed teeth at a Washington state zoo.

The 880-pound bear who lives at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington, didn't have to sit in a dentist's chair for the procedure. Boris sprawled out on a table as veterinarians and support staff extracted his problem teeth Friday.

To read more on this story, click here: Boris the Polar Bear Has 3 Teeth Pulled at Washington Zoo FOLLOW US!
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Monday, November 10, 2014

A New Threat To Polar Bears Makes It Hard for Them to Find Mates


Picture of white polar bear
Polar bears can smell their way to love. The animals leave scent markings—made either by sweat glands on the bottom of their feet or by urine—to find other bears looking for a love match.

But all that could be changing as a warming climate melts the ice habitat the bears depend on for their survival.

To read more on this story, click here: A New Threat to Polar Bears Makes it Hard for Them to Find Mates FOLLOW US!
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