Construction To Begin On Zoo’s Old Bear Range June 8, 2010

The Assiniboine Park Zoo and Assiniboine Park Conservancy announced plans today for its new International Polar Bear Conservation Centre at a unique “snow-turning” ceremony today. Construction is scheduled to begin next week on a new transition centre for orphaned polar bear cubs. The $4.5-million education and research facility and polar bear “transition centre” in Assiniboine Park Zoo will be a world-wide centre for Arctic conservation. The new building is to be constructed behind the zoo’s existing bear enclosure.

The transition centre will be off limits to the public most of the time but a new state-of-the- art Arctic exhibit, with room for six adult polar bears will open in 2013 for public viewing of bears.  The Province of Manitoba has committed $31 million to the project, including $4.5 million for the conservation centre and more than $26 million for construction of the polar bear arctic exhibit.

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For more information on this story, please see the following coverage:

Winnipeg Free Press: Work Set to Begin On Rescue Facility

ChrisD.ca:  Snow Turned on First Phase of Polar Bear Centre

New Debby the Polar Bear Pin April 22, 2010

The Zoo Gift Shop is now the official retailer of a brand new Debby the Polar Bear™ pin.  The Assiniboine Park Zoo Gift Shop is now a Corporate Member of the Winnipeg Pin Collectors Club. Pins are available at the store for $4.99

Winnipeg Pin Collectors Club: http://www.winnipegpincollectorsclub.com/

Zoo Gift Shop: www.zoosociety.com

Pins are available at the Store for $4.99 each.

Waldo the Grizzly Dies at 36 April 19, 2010

Waldo the grizzly bear, who lived at the Assiniboine Park Zoo for many of his 36 years, passed away in his sleep in his hibernating den, late last week. Waldo was a favourite of zoo visitors, along with his sister Hilda, who died three years ago at age 33. They were both orphaned in 1974 near Banff, Alberta, and the cubs were shipped to Winnipeg from the Calgary Zoo later that year.

The Assiniboine Park Zoo has housed grizzlies since 1951, including 12 cubs that were born before Hilda and Waldo arrived.

“Waldo will be missed by the many zoo staff that cared for him over the years, and by the hundreds of thousands of visitors who enjoyed watching him interact with Hilda, and dive into the pool for apples”, said zoo staff in today’s press release

Waldo the grizzly bear - 1974 to 2010

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Visitors Are Always Welcome March 23, 2010

We love to have visitors at the zoo, and even better when they come bearing gifts. And when those gifts are for the bears!?

I was lucky enough today to get a visit from the “senior representatives” of the hardest working polar-inspired family in Manitoba. The Vickery family presented me with a cheque for $350 for the Polar Bear Conservation Fund in Tribute to Debby. (They brought a whole load of pennies for us too!)

The Vickery’s are also known as the Canuck Nanooks, which include but are not limited to Miranda, Rebekah and Rachael. They have been making a difference for polar bears in the wild and here at our zoo for awhile now.

The Canuck Nanooks and I, at Debby the polar bear's memorial

The Nanooks don’t believe in lip-service when it comes to care for the earth. They want the natural world to change for the better, and the Nanooks know that this requires hard work, dedication and a little ingenuity. They are succeeding and we are proud to be albe to share in that success.

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If you would like to donate to our Polar Bear Conservation Fund, please visit zoosociety.com

Woman arrested for keeping zoo in condo December 14, 2009

Woman arrested for keeping zoo in condo

Christina Tan – Tue, Dec 08, 2009, The Star/Asia News Network

Bears and leopard cats can be found in the wild or in zoos, but what about in a condominum in the city?

That is what enforcement officers from the Selangor Wildlife Department discovered when they raided a unit in Desa Pandan, Kuala Lumpur last Friday. They arrested a 25-year-old woman who had been keeping a baby honey bear, a leopard cat and a slow loris in individual cages.

And this discovery is just the tip of the iceberg, according to department deputy director Mohammad Khairi Ahmad.

“We believe many out there are keeping wild animals as pets in their homes. It is not the way to love wildlife, as they belong in the wild,” he said.

Khairi said his officers raided the condominium following a tip-off from the public. Initial investigations showed that the animals could have been brought from orang asli in Negri Sembilan and kept as pets in the condominium for the past three months, he told a press conference in Shah Alam yesterday.

Khairi said the baby bear could be sold for about RM5,000 (S$2,049), while the cat and the slow loris were worth about RM500 each (S$204).

The woman, a hotel worker, has been released on bail till Dec 29 after giving her statement. She lives in the condominium with a male relative in his 30s. The authorities are looking for him to help in investigations.

Khairi warned the public not to keep or buy wildlife as it was against the law. He also said that usually, to get a baby bear, a hunter had to kill its mother first, which was a cruel act on an animal that was still feeding on mother’s milk. He added that the department would get a court order to send the seized animals to the Malacca Zoo or release them back into the wild.

Funding Announcement for Polar Bears at the Assiniboine Park Zoo December 3, 2009

Premiere Greg Selinger was on hand at the Assiniboine Park Zoo today to announce a huge commitment to polar bear conservation at the Assiniboine Park Zoo. Here are a few news articles for more information:

Big Funding for Polar Bear Exhibit, Rescue Shelter

Dec. 03, 2009 at 2:30 pm CDT in News

Posted by Sarah Klein

A big funding announcement was made Thursday for major upgrades to the Assiniboine Park Zoo’s polar bear exhibit.

A $31-million investment will help create the world headquarters of Polar Bears International and a state-of-the-art rescue shelter right here in Winnipeg.

The International Polar Bear Conservation Centre will conduct and co-ordinate polar bear rescue research, conservation and public-education initiatives, Premier Greg Selinger and Hartley Richardson, board chair of the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, said in a statement.

A new arctic exhibit will feature a polar bear enclosure with underwater and above-ground viewing opportunities to enable visitors to come face to face with up to six bears. Current plans call for the exhibit to also feature caribou, arctic fox, snowy owls and musk oxen, said Selinger.

Winnipeg hasn’t had a polar bear since Debby passed away last November.

Construction is slated to begin in 2011.

Polar bear exhibit, shelter eyed for Winnipeg zoo

Last Updated: Thursday, December 3, 2009 | 12:30 PM CT

CBC News

Debby is seen in her enclosure in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo in December 2006, during celebrations of her 40th birthday. (CBC)

A new polar bear rescue shelter and polar bear exhibit will be the centrepieces of a conservation centre to be constructed at Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo.

Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger announced the plan, as well as a contribution of $31 million, on Thursday.

Construction on the centre, which will include a state-of-the-art polar bear enclosure, will start in 2011, said Hartley Richardson, board chair of the Assiniboine Park Conservancy.

The enclosure will have underwater and above-ground viewing opportunities to enable visitors to come face to face with up to six bears, he said.

It will be part of a new arctic exhibit that will also feature caribou, arctic fox, snowy owls and musk oxen, said Selinger.

The zoo has been without a polar bear since its long-time resident, Debby, died in 2008 at age 42. The zoo has not been able to get another polar bear because its enclosure no longer met provincial standards.

Polar bear research

The first of its kind in North America, the polar bear centre will conduct and co-ordinate polar bear rescue research, conservation and public education initiatives, said Selinger.

It will also co-ordinate a relocation network that will facilitate the process for permanently placing orphaned or injured animals in qualifying zoos.

“As the home of Churchill, the world’s polar bear capital, there is no better place than Manitoba to host this centre of research and education on the impact climate change is having on our polar bears,” Selinger said.

‘As the home of Churchill, the world’s polar bear capital, there is no better place than Manitoba to host this centre of research and education on the impact climate change is having on our polar bears.’—Premier Greg Selinger

Added Richardson: “Manitoba has been a world leader in the management of polar bears, which have become an international symbol for climate change’s effects on the world. We are very pleased to see this exciting initiative is moving forward.”

Polar Bears International, a non-profit organization dedicated to the worldwide conservation of polar bears and their Arctic habitat, applauded the province on the plans and leadership involving the animals.

“The Polar Bear Alert program and the Manitoba standards for polar bears in zoos are just two examples of this leadership,” said Robert Buchanan, CEO of Polar Bears International.

“By providing funding for the international polar bear conservation centre, Manitoba will remain on the cutting edge in terms of polar bear research and stewardship.”

Assiniboine Park Conservancy is a non-profit corporation mandated to establish a vision for the park, create a plan to ensure it realizes its visions and govern the implementation of strategies toward the revitalization and transformation of the park.

Polar bears’ early arrival eyed

Province to announce funding; construction could start in 2011

By: Bartley Kives and Bruce Owen

3/12/2009 1:00 AM

The Assiniboine Park Zoo has been without a polar bear since Debby died last year at age 42.

The Assiniboine Park Conservancy may begin building a state-of-the-art polar-bear enclosure in 2011, years earlier than previously expected.

This morning, the Manitoba government plans to announce a contribution toward the International Polar Bear Conservation Centre, a $5-million enclosure and education facility slated for Assiniboine Park Zoo.

The largest zoo in Manitoba, the self-proclaimed polar bear capital of the world, has been without a member of the iconic Arctic species since 2008, when 42-year-old zoo resident Debby died. The zoo is unable to acquire another adult polar bear because its existing bear enclosure, built in the 1950s, no longer meets Manitoba Conservation standards for the species.

Young polar bears, however, could be housed at the zoo temporarily as part of a plan to make Winnipeg the centre of international polar-bear education as well as rescue efforts for orphan polar bears found anywhere in the Arctic.

The non-profit Assiniboine Park Conservancy plans to build a polar-bear centre that will include a new enclosure with an underwater viewing area, an interactive link to polar-bear denning grounds near Churchill as well as a polar-ecology and climate-change research facility.

Young polar bears could arrive even before construction begins.

“If a polar bear becomes available, we’ll do our best to ensure it finds a home,” zoo co-ordinator Gordon Glover said in June, when the plan was first announced.

“We will have a facility that will allow them to survive in way that’s decent and respectful for them,” Premier Greg Selinger said Wednesday.

Zoo visitors likely won’t be able to see the orphan cubs, which will be fed and cared for behind closed doors in order to acclimatize them for life in other zoos.

Orphan polar bears are never returned to the wild, where they would die of exposure, starvation or cannibalistic predation.

“We’re not doing this to show people polar-bear cubs, as cute as they are. We’re doing this to keep cubs alive,” Bob Williams, the Canadian chairman for Polar Bears International, also said in June.

Selinger would not say Wednesday how much the province will contribute to the new polar-bear centre. No federal funding is involved, but the conservancy is seeking private donors.

The polar-bear facility is the most dramatic aspect of a $90-million Assiniboine Park Zoo revitalization plan.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 3, 2009

Debby – In Pictures November 15, 2009

Here is a wonderful site to view Debby the polar bear. Thanks to Dennis Fast for sharing these photos on the web.

http://www.dennisfast.com/Animals/DEBBY-THE-OLDEST-POLAR-BEAR-IN/6829490_YyetB#436485025_is5yN

Debby the Polar Bear Continues to Inspire October 12, 2009

A new memorial statue was recently unveiled at the Assiniboine Park Zoo to honour Debby the polar bear. Debby passed away in November of 2008 at the age of 42 and was the icon of the zoo. She was in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest living polar bear at the time of her passing.

A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes since Debby’s death in order to pave the way for not only new polar bears at the Assiniboine Park Zoo but for a new, state -of-the art polar bear enclosure. The Zoo, Zoological Society of Manitoba, Manitoba Conservation, Polar Bears International, Assiniboine Park Conservancy and many other partner organizations have rallied around this call for action and plan to make Winnipeg the premier place to view, learn about and help conserve polar bears in the world.

The Zoological Society of Manitoba got things rolling by establishing the Polar Bear Conservation Fund in Tribute to Debby. This fund has received many donations from individual citizens and companies from Manitoba as well as being the main recipient for fund generated by the Zoo Society throughout 2009. The Society has contributed money from two fun runs, from its June social event and proceeds from the Safeway Boo at the Zoo event are earmarked for the fund. The Society has also partnered with companies like Pizza Hotline, Hot 103 FM and Carpathia Credit Union to raise additional funds for the new conservation centre.

Bear Debby leaves a hole

Despite memorial, zoo visitors lament polar bears’ absence

By: Staff Writer, 25/09/2009

Debby the polar bear may have departed this perilous planet, but her likeness lives on at the Assiniboine Park Zoo.

The province of Manitoba has donated a statue of the Guinness record-setting carnivore to the zoo to help celebrate the life of its famous resident.

Click here to read more: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/life/bear-debby-leaves-a-hole-61437642.html

The Assiniboine Park Conservancy has recently announced plans to assist in the construction of a world class arctic exhibit. For information on their plans, please visit: http://www.assiniboinepark.ca/mnufuture-vision#zoo

Bear Shelter August 18, 2009

For anyone who has been to the Assiniboine Park Zoo over the last couple of weeks, you will have noticed that our male grizzly has been moved.  Waldo was moved over to the former polar bear exhibit temporarily while zoo staff do a few repairs on his enclosure and, more fun for Waldo, build a new wooden sunshelter for him. Walso will return to his regular space once the big log shelter is finished.

This shelter is one of many animal enrichment projects that the Enrichment Committee has initiated over the past few months. Many of the changes are not always obvious to the human visitor but are extremely important for the animal that lives at the zoo. Work has been done to improve badger and wolverine enclosures as well as the native water birds, Eurasian red squirrels, takin and many more. As a member of this committee, I am very proud of the work that has happened and know that the animals are benefitting immensely from their newly enriched living quarters. But while I’m a committee member, the real work has been done by the many zookeepers that are an integral part of the  enrichment group as well as other keeping staff who have hopped on board to make the exhibits more enjoyable to live in.

Kudos to everyone and here’s hoping Waldo likes his new addition!

If you would like to help out the animals too, our enrichment group will be hosting a giant zoo garage sale on Saturday September 12, 2009 from 9 am to 2 pm at the South Gate entrance on Corydon Ave. Everyone is welcome!

Bear Stories at the Zoo June 8, 2009

Winnipeg welcomed Else Poulsen, Canadian bear behaviourist and former zoo keeper at the Calgary and Detroit Zoos, this past weekend. Else was in town for the first time to promote her book “Smiling Bears” and to share her stories with zoo visitors.

I had an opportunity to tour Else around the Assiniboine Park Zoo on Saturday morning. We spent quite a bit of time in the bear exhibits and I had a wonderful, personal introduction to Else’s vast bear knowledge and experience. Else also spent time talking to many of the zoo keepers and providing insights about animal enrichment and animal care.

If you missed Else bear presentation on Saturday evening but would still like to read her stories, her book “Smiling Bears” can be found at McNally Robinson booksellers. I would also like to wish Else the best of luck as she begins a new job managing the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (www.aspenvalleywildlifesanctuary.com)

The Zoological Society is looking at developing a monthly “Speaker Series” as many of us feel that networking with other zoo and animal professionals is not only good for staff, but will be of interest to zoo members and visitors. Keep an eye on our website (www.zoosociety.com) in the fall.