Highland Wildlife Park New enclosure for Polar Bear

[glasgowanimal]

Mercedes is being moved to HWP from Edinburgh Zoo later in 2009

See more details below regarding funding required:

Donations


also please see some press coverage links:

Edinburgh's polar bear moves to a new home | Scotland | stv News

Polar bear due north in move to Highlands - Press & Journal

Mercedes set to boost park visitor numbers - Strathspey and Badenoch Herald

Britain's famous Canadian polar bear gets new digs

 

[kiang]

The army have arrived at the wildlife park to make a start on the new enclosure, 80 soldiers in all will help on construction of the new enclosure, as well as a new cattle grid for the reserve and work on a woodland walk.

BBC NEWS | England | Soldiers build polar bear's home

 

[James27]

Kiang, do you live near HWP? If you visit would it be possible to get some pics of the new enclosure area so we can get an idea of what she'll be in for? Thanks

 

[Cat-Man]

were will it be

 

[kiang]

The site of the new polar bear enclosure is the current European wolf reserve, the best views and plan of the wolf enclosure were on the zoolex website.

ZooLex Exhibit

and also a picture i took on my last visit

http://www.zoochat.com/201/hwp-22-03-09-a-69428/

 

[Cat-Man]

so what about the wolves

 

[James27]

Great, thanks. Looks pretty impressive

 

[James27]

so what about the wolves

They've moved Edinburgh an a pair have been left at HWP.
I hate to be picky, but can you put a question mark at the end of a question please? It just makes it easier to read and stops me looking it over twice lol

 

[Pertinax]

How old is Mercedes?

Does anyone know how old Mercedes is? Obviously if she arrived in 1984 she must be 25 years+ but was she partly grown or already an adult bear on arrival at Edinburgh?

And how much longer is she likely to live i.e. what's the longevity for Polar Bears in Zoos?

 

[James27]

I think she was about 3 when she arrived, although they obviously won't know her exact age.

 

[Lesley4444]

I think she is about 27... but obviously because she was born in the wild her exact age is not known

 

[Cat-Man]

sos ashley

so where will the wolves be at highland wildlife park?

there you go ash

 

[Zambar]

The wolf pair will be in an enclosure adjacent to their old one.

 

[Cat-Man]

thankyou Marwell Dalek

 

[Tim May]

And how much longer is she likely to live i.e. what's the longevity for Polar Bears in Zoos?

There are several records of zoo polar bears living for more than 40 years, so Mercedes could be around for a good few years yet......

For anybody interested in mammalian longevity records, the book
"Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World"
(Richard Weigl, 2005) is recommended.

 

[kiang]

Looks like Mercedes will not be moving up to the HWP until September at the earliest now, also found this article with a picture of construction of the pool.

Terriers build polar bear pool - Strathspey and Badenoch Herald

 

[CZJimmy]

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Bear necessity to move Mercedes

Money is still needed for the move...

 

[James27]

Lets hope they get the money :-s

 

[glasgowanimal]

I believe the enclosure should be finished by end of Augus/beginning of september.

With regards when Mercedes will move up, that all depends on the training of Mercedes to enter her 'moving crate' and not showing distress. The keepers will not want to sedate her due to age so this may take longer than planned

 

[Simon McGlary]

Agreed with glasgowanimal. Mercedes will decide when she moves. It looks like the crate is permanently open to her at the moment so that she can go in when she likes. Part of the training will also include being able to close the door of the crate and not have her get stressed. I think the keepers are doing the right thing by allowing Mercedes to dictate the pace. A stressed out animal also leads to stressed out keepers! Who knows she might surprise everyone! Either earlier than anticipated or much, much later!