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The wait to fulfill the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo’s new Arctic icons is formally over.
On Friday at 11 a.m., Calgarians will have the ability to see polar bears Baffin and Siku for the primary time, when the newly renovated Wild Canada zone formally opens to the general public.
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The 2 male polar bears have been settling in at their new sanctuary in Calgary since transferring from Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo in October. Their new house is a $11.5-million habitat that options two acres of tree-filled meadows, a five-metre-deep plunge pool, a sequence of dens and rock fixtures, and a shallow pool for the bears to wade in.
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Orphaned once they have been cubs, Baffin and Siku have been noticed wandering close to Churchill, Man., by conservation officers. Deemed too younger to outlive within the wild on their very own, they have been transported to the Leatherdale Worldwide Polar Bear Conservation Centre at Winnipeg’s zoo.
After six years dwelling alongside seven different polar bears, Winnipeg zoo officers recognized that Baffin and Siku would profit from a smaller group setting. The choice to relocate the pair to Calgary was made “considering the dynamics of the present group and the bears’ particular person personalities,” in keeping with a earlier information launch from the Calgary Zoo.
The pair have been transported to Calgary in mid-October by way of WestJet Cargo.
Details about polar bears, courtesy of the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo
- Polar bears don’t hibernate.
- Polar bears can scent prey from as much as a kilometre away.
- A polar bear’s paw can measure 12 inches throughout.
- Beneath their fur, polar bears have black pores and skin to soak up warmth.
- Polar bears’ fur is technically translucent, not white.
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