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Polar bears' return buoyed by provincial cash

Construction could start in 2011

By: Bartley Kives and Bruce Owen

3/12/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 31

The Assiniboine Park Zoo has been without a polar bear since Debby died last year at age 42.

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The Assiniboine Park Zoo has been without a polar bear since Debby died last year at age 42.

WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government announced a $31-million contribution toward the International Polar Bear Conservation Centre that will include an enclosure and education facility at the Assiniboine Park Zoo.

The funding will allow the Conservancy to begin building a state-of-the-art polar-bear enclosure in 2011.

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The largest zoo in Manitoba, the self-proclaimed polar bear capital of the world, has been without a member of the iconic Arctic species since 2008, when 42-year-old zoo resident Debby died. The zoo is unable to acquire another adult polar bear because its existing bear enclosure, built in the 1950s, no longer meets Manitoba Conservation standards for the species.

Young polar bears, however, could be housed at the zoo temporarily as part of a plan to make Winnipeg the centre of international polar-bear education as well as rescue efforts for orphan polar bears found anywhere in the Arctic.

The non-profit Assiniboine Park Conservancy plans to build a polar-bear centre that will include a new enclosure with an underwater viewing area, an interactive link to polar-bear denning grounds near Churchill as well as a polar-ecology and climate-change research facility.

Young polar bears could arrive even before construction begins.

"If a polar bear becomes available, we'll do our best to ensure it finds a home," zoo co-ordinator Gordon Glover said in June, when the plan was first announced.

"We will have a facility that will allow them to survive in way that's decent and respectful for them," Premier Greg Selinger said Wednesday.

Zoo visitors likely won't be able to see the orphan cubs, which will be fed and cared for behind closed doors in order to acclimatize them for life in other zoos.

Orphan polar bears are never returned to the wild, where they would die of exposure, starvation or cannibalistic predation.

"We're not doing this to show people polar-bear cubs, as cute as they are. We're doing this to keep cubs alive," Bob Williams, the Canadian chairman for Polar Bears International, also said in June.

Selinger would not say Wednesday how much the province will contribute to the new polar-bear centre. No federal funding is involved, but the conservancy is seeking private donors.

The polar-bear facility is the most dramatic aspect of a $90-million Assiniboine Park Zoo revitalization plan.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 3, 2009 B1

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Updated on Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 11:10 AM CST:
Adds details of funding from province

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31 Commentscomment icon

First off: Polar bears aren't endangered. They were put on the threatened list in 2008.

What I find amazing is how many people can rationalize not giving public money to those that really need it in favour of a facility that does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help with the polar bear population issue. This is equivalent to donating money to pink ribbon AWARENESS campaign for breast cancer. Even if the money was directed towards helping the bears in a more direct fashion, it still doesn't justify spending public funds when we cannot even take care of our own neighbours.

sure, we could spend every single penny of taxes on poverty or healthcare or crime or homelessness or addictions or a kazillion other issues...

but it's great news for our kids who spend time at the zoo...we are there a lot and are excited to see some improvements made

This could be a great attraction for Winnipeg/Manitoba as well. It sounds very interesting and educational.

Regarding the cost of the project, if the money wasn't going to this project it probably would just be wasted by the government. Plus, if you really think about it, $31 million isn't much by government standards.

Sigh... I wonder how many low-income houses they could build with 31 million $$. Hey Premier Selinger, how about spending some money on PEOPLE!!

It's about time!

I just read an article about Churchill male polar bears eating cubs because they are starving and the winter ice is not coming fast enough. Rather than parading them around in the zoo couldn't the money be better spent in helping those up North or the global warming issue.

@ dennis compayre.While you may believe in what you say, others who are also in your field have another viewpoint.This does not mean only one side is accurate.

Endora Stevens....if you wish you can contact me at polarbearwatch@mts.net....I will answer your question's in depth. If not.... since the early eighties I have been spent well over 20,000 hrs observing polar bear behavior in the wild. At one time I had an affiliation with Polar Bears International. As someone once wrote about me " no discernible training in science" which is a fair description and one I have no problem with.

Wow--a real lead paragraph. Haven't seen one those in a while.

Yeah!! I was excited about the other announcements that the park was doing, and this just adds to it. Good for the zoo, the park and the city!

One thing though, that the zoo and the city council has to realize is that the admission fees have to go up. Tourists will pay higher amounts because they know what they pay in their province or state, and I wonder if they question why our prices are so low. Once they start walking the zoo, they quickly see why. You get what you pay for, and our zoo is in dire straits and this new announcement will help turn it around. It is about time.

Also, keep in mind that many here in the city will support this endeavour, but they also want to see it maintained as well once completed, hence the higher entrance fees.

Yes, there will be many who will oppose this entrance fee suggestion, let alone the polar bear exhibit and research centre, but this province is known world wide for our Debbie's and Skippers and we should shout it out, exhibit it and be damn proud of it.

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