‘They’re not here for us, they’re here with us’: Animal advocacy group says Calgary zoo shouldn’t house polar bears

An animal advocacy group says the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo shouldn’t house polar bears after one died in captivity after it didn’t resurface from a pool on Friday.

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo says the Taylor Family Foundation Polar Bear Sanctuary is closed after ‘Baffin’ did not reappear after going underwater.

Zoo officials say their two polar bears were seen sparring in a pool around 11:30 a.m. when one of the bears didn’t surface.

“Baffin wasn’t seen for a few minutes,” says Jamie Dorgan, the zoo’s interim chief executive officer. “The animal care team immediately shifted the other polar bear back off of the habitat so that we could assess the situation.”

Heather Mcclure Anderson, the founder of the Daisy Foundation in Calgary, says the death of Baffin is tragic, but claims the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo doesn’t have the proper facilities to house a polar bear.

“They don’t even have room to expand to make it bigger because … they can’t expand much more,” she told CityNews. “I mean, they’re in the middle of basically the city … for them to make any bigger and better and enclosures for them, it’s almost impossible.”

She added, “Not to lose complete reputation all over the world, they need to really step up.”

While the zoo says results on how the bear died will be revealed once the necropsy is completed, she says the timing is unfortunate.

“All I know is that it’s very strange, because he was a healthy bear one minute, and then not,” she said.

“I think it must be extremely hard to try to keep yourself cooled down. And I’m like, ‘How is it possible in the facilities that they have there?’ It’s not good enough. It’s just not good enough. That’s all there is to it.”

She says the zoo can improve the situation by giving up the bear to another facility that has the space and capacity for polar bears.

“The trauma that these animals go through, for our enjoyment, is sad, you know? … Can you imagine being a polar bear and being shipped halfway across the world?” Anderson said.

“When are we all going to start realizing that animals should not be there? They’re not here for us. They’re here with us.”

According to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife (COSEWIC) in Canada, polar bears are listed as “Special Concern,” a category for wildlife species that may become threatened or endangered due to a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has it as vulnerable, which carries a similar meaning.

COSEWIC also states that polar bears are “strongly dependent on sea ice to access marine mammal prey.”

“Habitat preferences vary seasonally, with strong selection for areas with approximately 85 per cent ice concentration during peak foraging in spring, suggesting that a mix of ice and open water represents optimal habitat,” the Canadian assessment reads.

COSEWIC says a polar bear’s maximum lifespan in the wild is generally between 25 and 30 years, while those in an accredited facility live an average of 23 years, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Six-year-old Baffin and seven-year-old Siku joined the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo in October as part of an $11 million expansion to the Wild Canada Zone.

The polar bear habitat at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo was constructed in consultation with industry professionals and experts from Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo.

The habitat includes expansive tree-filled grassy meadows, rock features, several pools ranging in depth from three to five metres, a wading stream, and an unobscured view of the horizon, it opened to the public as part of the Wild Canada grand re-opening on Dec. 1.

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo tells CityNews it is focused on caring for its staff and volunteers at this time, and the necropsy results will be available on Tuesday.

With files from Lauryn Heintz and Michael Ranger