This was a sad day in the zoo as Marcus the Polar Bear died in the morning. The area was closed off for a while, but then visitors could see his body under a tarpaulin (I did not demean him by taking a photograph). I remember a little girl jumping up and down saying "it's a dead bear, it's a dead bear" when her grandparents told her Marcus was asleep under a blanket. Anyway this was the Education Centre. It was usually open to the public, but I never saw it staffed. One day a visitor stole a tiger skin that was on display (the skin of a former resident the label claimed to have been an outlandish 35 years old at its death).
