Remember when the St. Louis Zoo had real bears?
Photo by Denise Bertacchi
If you've been to the St. Louis Zoo in the last year or so, you may have wandered by the polar bear pit and wondered were the bears have all gone.
Sadly, the zoo's polar bears have all died from a series of tragic, and mostly natural, causes. St. Louis's last polar bear, Hope died in March 2009 of cancer, at the ripe old age (for polar bears) of 23. Polar bears generally live 15 to 18 years in the wild.
The other bears, Churchill and Penny, died in 2005. Churchill died from accidentally eating plastic and Penny died of an infection.
The bears haven't been replaced because there is a waiting list for new bears, and several other zoos are competing with St. Louis. Only 81 polar bears live in American zoos.
In a strange twist, the polar bears are back in St. Louis, albeit in electronic form. The Riverfront Times reports that plastic bears have been installed in the polar bear exhibit as part of the zoo's Wild Light's exhibit.
Update: Zoo staff confirm that the plastic bears are only meant to be on display during the Zoo's Wild Lights display. Supposedly many zoo keepers aren't happy about the plastic bears either.
Read about the new polar bear exhibit at the Kansas City Zoo, from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Fox2 reports that PETA wants the polar bear exhibit permanently closed.
Comments
The zoo is a sh**hole anyway, to be perfectly blunt. I'm not surprised the one bear died of an infection. Several elephants have caught the herpes strain there as well (lethal for elephants). The penguins tank is covered with slime. I stopped going there after last year seeing the lone zebra out in his pen trying to eat his meal of the ground which was covered in a fine sheet of feces. Those poor animals
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!