Year of the Polar Bear
Polar bears are amazing! They are loved by zoo staff and all our visitors alike.
So, when Polar Bears
International declared 2008 The Year of the Polar Bear, we jumped
right in!
Join us for an entire year of celebration, presentations and activities, while learning how you can help the
polar bear.
Although this year will be packed with fun activities, the reason for declaring 2008 The Year of the Polar Bear is not so fun...
With
earth's temperatures on the rise, polar bear survival is on "thin ice" as
the bears experience serious impacts of climate change.
As a recently added species to the Red List, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) becomes one more animal, for which human activity has made the earth a difficult and perilous place to survive.
 Polar bears need sea ice to reach their prey. With less ice, their hunting season is shorter and cub survival rate is lower.
For the first time, scientists have recorded male polar bears cannibalizing females and cubs in their maternity dens.
To hunt, they are forced to swim long distances in the open ocean, and
many drown due to exhaustion, hypothermia and rough seas. |
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Here at the Oregon Zoo we
are proud to be taking care of three polar bears, Conrad,
Tasul, and Yugyan, learning as much as possible about these magnificent
animals, while giving our visitors a chance to observe them up-close. |
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