Oregon Zoo Celebrates Polar Bear Week

It’s a beary special week at the Oregon Zoo! Polar Bear Week starts on Sunday, Nov. 3, with activities aimed at showcasing these charismatic carnivores and the challenges they face in a warming Arctic. To add to the festivities, polar bear half-sisters Nora and Amelia Gray have birthdays on Nov. 6 and 8.

Guests can stop by the zoo’s Polar Passage habitat between Nov. 3 and 9 at 1 p.m. for special keeper talks and a chance to chat with zoo staff and volunteers. Each day boasts a different theme, from positive reinforcement training to an ice extravaganza. And of course, two birthday parties.

“Nora turns 9 on Wednesday and Amelia Gray will be 8 on Friday,” said Amy Hash, who oversees the zoo’s polar bear habitat. “They’ll both be getting lots of special enrichment to celebrate.”

Other themes throughout the week will highlight the bears’ swimming abilities, and the ways in which they contribute to scientific research. From helping calibrate a bear laser that measures body mass to using a swim flume designed to help scientists understand the caloric requirements of wild polar bears, Nora and Amelia Gray often lend a helping paw to researchers. 

"We still have gaps in understanding how climate change is affecting wild polar bears, and it’s essential that the bears in human care help scientists learn more about their species,” said Polar Bears International’s vice president of conservation Amy Cutting. “Zoo bears are perfect candidates to help because they already participate in many health-care behaviors voluntarily and seem to find those experiences enriching.” 

Indeed, much of today’s zoo-based polar bear science has its roots in animal-care advances at the Oregon Zoo, according to Cutting. In 2012, polar bears Conrad and Tasul became the first of their species to voluntarily give blood. The breakthrough was a huge in terms of advancing animal well-being and veterinary care, and it also opened the door to other possibilities. 

A news story about this milestone led polar bear scientist Karyn Rode to contact the zoo for assistance with her Arctic research. Polar bears are extremely difficult to observe in the wild, and Dr. Rode, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Changing Arctic Ecosystems initiative, believed the zoo’s training advances presented a unique opportunity to fill critical knowledge gaps. 

Tasul helped Rode learn how climate change was affecting the diets of wild polar bears, then assisted one of her USGS colleagues by wearing a high-tech collar to help calibrate tracking collars deployed on wild bears. 

All these collaborative efforts couldn’t come at a more urgent time. As climate change reduces Arctic sea ice, polar bears struggle to find and catch seals, making it harder for them and their cubs to survive. The species is classified as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission has designated the species as facing a high risk of global extinction. 

In 2018, Polar Bears International supported efforts of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in forming the Polar Bear Research Council. Composed of zoo professionals and polar bear researchers, the council focuses on keeping research current with emerging scientific questions regarding wild bears. An updated Polar Bear Research Masterplan was completed last year. 

Source: Oregon Zoo