The Polar Park was a zoo that was situated 15 miles outside of Edmonton, Alberta in western Canada. It opened on August 1st, 1959, and I visited there many times when I was a child. When I was 10 years old, in 1986, I left Edmonton and never revisited the zoo. Either in the late eighties or early nineties the park was closed for good. The lack of funds derailed plans on keeping the place open, and the impressive animal collection was sold off to various other organizations. If anyone has information on the closing of this establishment then please feel free to add to this thread.
The Polar Park was originally named the Alberta Game Farm, and was run and operated by an ex-boxer named Al Oeming. It consisted almost entirely of ungulates, carnivores, and birds. There were no typical pavilions or large buildings, and instead there were large, fenced paddocks for the animals. These exhibits were often very plain and basic, but enormous in size. Most of the hoofed mammals had spacious areas to roam, and there were a number of large herds at the park.
Highlights: (based on the late seventies zoo guide that I own)
- in 1971 a young pair of mountain gorillas were obtained. The male was 3 years old and named Sultan, and the female was almost 2 and called Zakula.
- white-tailed and white-bearded gnus
- the only captive breeding herd of rocky mountain goats
- at the time one of only 3 zoos to have Dall Sheep
- wood bison, prairie bison, and wisent
- peary's, barren ground, woodland and osborn caribou
- the only gayal in North America
- a massive polar bear exhibit with 6 bears (2.4), complete with a 600,000 pool in the enclosure
- at least 10 different species of deer
- a pair of white rhinos
- a pair of pygmy hippos
- 5 species of zebra: grant's, damara, hartmann's mountain, chapman's, and grevy's
- malayan and mountain tapir
- free-ranging baikal seals in in a 1.5 mile long lake (no fences whatsoever), but the seals were almost impossible for the public to locate
- przewalski horses
- 10 species of pheasant
- at least 6 species of crane
- at least 13 species of goose
In my glossy magazine from the zoo there are many photos of animals walking through large amounts of snow. It is definitely unusual to see mountain gorillas, malayan tapirs, asian elephants and blackbuck antelope trudging through piles of snow, and the weather was a deterrent to people wanting to visit the zoo.
The Polar Park was originally named the Alberta Game Farm, and was run and operated by an ex-boxer named Al Oeming. It consisted almost entirely of ungulates, carnivores, and birds. There were no typical pavilions or large buildings, and instead there were large, fenced paddocks for the animals. These exhibits were often very plain and basic, but enormous in size. Most of the hoofed mammals had spacious areas to roam, and there were a number of large herds at the park.
Highlights: (based on the late seventies zoo guide that I own)
- in 1971 a young pair of mountain gorillas were obtained. The male was 3 years old and named Sultan, and the female was almost 2 and called Zakula.
- white-tailed and white-bearded gnus
- the only captive breeding herd of rocky mountain goats
- at the time one of only 3 zoos to have Dall Sheep
- wood bison, prairie bison, and wisent
- peary's, barren ground, woodland and osborn caribou
- the only gayal in North America
- a massive polar bear exhibit with 6 bears (2.4), complete with a 600,000 pool in the enclosure
- at least 10 different species of deer
- a pair of white rhinos
- a pair of pygmy hippos
- 5 species of zebra: grant's, damara, hartmann's mountain, chapman's, and grevy's
- malayan and mountain tapir
- free-ranging baikal seals in in a 1.5 mile long lake (no fences whatsoever), but the seals were almost impossible for the public to locate
- przewalski horses
- 10 species of pheasant
- at least 6 species of crane
- at least 13 species of goose
In my glossy magazine from the zoo there are many photos of animals walking through large amounts of snow. It is definitely unusual to see mountain gorillas, malayan tapirs, asian elephants and blackbuck antelope trudging through piles of snow, and the weather was a deterrent to people wanting to visit the zoo.
h yea he had those Grizzlies{ swan hills sub spieces last of the huge plains bears} I saw that huge male bear stand on his hind legs. He must have been nine feet tall.and polar bears i remember one got out one day. I wasn't there but it was in the paper.
