A new Calgary Zoo project is going to bring back polar bears – this time sans Prozac..The project, with $31 million in funding, was announced Tuesday by Alberta Culture Minister MLA Leela Aheer..The redevelopment project has received funding from the provincial government for $15.5 million, with the feds putting in $ 7 million and a donation of $8.5 million from the Taylor Family Foundation..The main focus of the redevelopment project will be the Cequel Energy Lodge, currently housing exhibits like the river otters and will include a new habitat for cranes, caribou and building a brand new state-of-the-art polar bear enclosure..Zoo president and CEO Clément Lanthier said the new polar bear area will actually be multiple enclosures the animals will be transported between regularly to switch their surroundings to simulate as close to a real natural habitat as possible..Part of the polar bear enclosure will be at the highest point in the zoo “so that the bears can see the traffic jams on Memorial” joked Lanthier..This high vantage point is purposeful so the bears can have access to viewing a real horizon line – which zoo officials said is needed and desired by polar bears to truly simulate their natural habitat..Capacity within the polar bear exhibit will be “modest” according to Lanthier with lots of “expansive, complex space.”.Lanthier said they may be able to accept orphaned polar bears cubs if the need arises due to the improved facilities..While it isn’t yet known where the bears will be coming to Calgary from, officials said the zoo is working closely with the Manitoba provincial government to best assess which animals should be brought to the exhibit and where they will come from..Misty the polar bear died at the Calgary Zoo in 1999. She was given Prozac to stop her pacing and obsessive-compulsive behaviour. The zoo closed the exhibit then, but have been working on a plan to bring polar bears back since at least 2009..“The Arctic is melting and many of those species are depending on the ice, so I think we have a role to play to tell the story about what’s happening in the wild, but also what is our responsibility to support some of these species,” said Lanthier..The focus was also stated to be on quality over quantity in terms of the number of bears it will be able to house..A decision on where and how to get the bears hasn’t been made..Aheer, the MLA for Strathmore-Chestemere, said he loves going to the zoo..“Today is monumental. There is not a buzz, but a wave – no – a tsunami of optimism in the air” said Aheer..Aheer said the zoo does great work providing a mental health boost to visitors who flock from around the world specifically to see animals native to Canada..Lanthier said one of the reasons the project is so important is to not only attract tourists to the city and the province, but “keep them here for another night’s stay”..Don Taylor, of the Taylor Family Foundation, spoke fondly of his memories of polar bears – specifically one named Carmichael – at the Calgary Zoo in 1941..Taylor, 86, remembered while it was a joy to see the bears, they seemed obviously unhappy with the small space the original enclosure gave them..The project is slated to be finished in the fall of 2023..Jackie Conroy is a Correspondent for the Western Standard.jconroy@westernstandardonline.com
