Good news for Toronto Zoo fans and polar bear lovers: the new 10-acre Tundra Trek is opening next month and will have two of its cutest little guys back--just not so little anymore. (Toronto Star article)We saw Nikita and Aurora eight years ago as orphaned cubs in the Toronto Zoo, but then they were moved to the Polar Bear Habitat Heritage Village in Cochrane. Now they're back to bask in their new environment which is scheduled to open August 1st.
Here's a map I found of the exhibit on zoochat.com, thanks to "quartz92" who has a number of photos showing the progress of the exhibit.
"The 10-acre Tundra Trek is set to open early next month and will also feature Arctic wolves, reindeer, snow geese and snowy owls. In a polar bear exhibit five times the size of the one that was closed a year-and-a-half ago, Nikita and Aurora will be joined by 6-year-old Inukshuk – a male who was also orphaned as a cub when his mother was killed by a hunter near Fort Severn."Whether you love zoos or not, this is one exhibit that should be good for the animals and visitors alike.
On a side, but somewhat related, note, The Life of Pi is an interesting read about an Indian boy who ends up in a little boat with a zebra, orangutan, hyena, and tiger. (Don't read the plot summary on wikipedia if you're going to read the book!)
In one chapter the protagonist expounds on why good zoos are great for animals. I had often wondered about this and sometimes felt sad for animals stuck in in a boring zoo exhibit, thinking they were better off in the wild--free. The author, Canadian Yann Martel, has a different viewpoint that I thought was interesting. (I still feel bad for birds, mind you, since they can't really do what they were meant to do--fly.)
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