CNSTC: June 17, 2015

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July 13, 2011

Vol 13 No 28

June 17, 2015

Zoo builds bear necessities Recipes

Celebrate Father’s Day

Feature Section

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Home & Garden

School Kali, a 2.5 year-old, 850-pound male polar bear is McDonnell Polar Bear Point’s first inhabitant at the St. Louis Zoo.

Photo courtesy Kelly Ann Brown

McDonnell Polar Bear Point opens at St. Louis Zoo with new permanent house guest

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Community scholarships awarded

By Sara Hardin This summer marks the debut of the new-and-improved McDonnell Polar Bear Point at the St. Louis Zoo. The exhibit opened to the public starting Saturday, June 6, and visitors can now observe the polar bear like never before thanks to the innovation of the modernized habitat. The 40,000-square-foot, $16 million exhibit features a 50,000-gallon Polar Dive Pool with a glass viewing wall, allowing zoo-goers an exhilarating close-up look at the huge, swimming mammal from the safety of an arctic cave room. Polar Bear Point’s first inhabitant, a 2.5 year-old, 850-pound male polar bear named Kali, gets all of the attention to himself during the excitement of the exhibit’s opening. “It will be great fun to see Kali interact with guests through the split view window that offers views of him swimming in the deep pool and playing in the shallow pool,” said Steve Bircher, Saint Louis Zoo Curator of Mammals/Carnivores. With the new habitat more than

doubling the space of the previous polar bear area, Bircher adds that the habitat can accommodate up to five bears in the future. Until then, Kali can break in his new home in peace. “This wonderful habitat shows our commitment to protecting polar bears, which are declining in the wild and are highly vulnerable,” said Jeffrey P Bonner, Ph.D., Dana Brown President and Chief Executive Officer of the St. Louis Zoo. “By working to not only conserve polar bears in the wild but to offer a wonderful habitat for breeding and caring for bears, we can help save these iconic animals.” Kali’s arrival at the zoo came after he was orphaned in Alaska and turned over to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). After working with the Association of Zoo and Aquariums (AZA) Polar Bear Species Survival Plan (SSP), USFWS determined that St. Louis would be Kali’s permanent home. Kali arrived to St. Louis on May 5 and has been living comfortably in his new habitat, where a quarantine period allowed him to ac-

climate to his new home and diet. Along with the new Polar Bear Point are educational opportunities about the bears and their role in the lives of Alaska Native People, a See ZOO page 2

Over the Fence

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Windows 10? Not Again!

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