Kansas City Zoo

October 26, 2010

Listening to my daughters and their children talk of going to the zoo and seeing Nikita, the polar bear, brought back a lot of memories. I lived so close to the zoo that my siblings and I would walk there back in the 50s. The zoo was free at that time, so we went often!

Waking up to the sound of the sea lions barking and lions roaring was so exciting that it always made my siblings and me ready for a trip to the zoo. Although I did enjoy the sea lions and lions, my real interest was with the polar bears. I remember them playing with a big red ball. It seemed that they loved jumping into the pool the zoo had for them. The Kansas City Zoo has not had a polar bear since 1991. It seems longer than that to me, and I’m glad they are back.

Polar bears in the wild have to keep their fur clean and dry. In the summer when they’re finished eating, they go into open water to clean up, shake excess water off, and rub their fur in the snow to dry off.  In winter, the polar bears clean themselves by pushing their heads in the snow, pushing forward on their tummies, then rolling on their backs. They also remove snow from their paws because they have fur on them.

MCPL has plenty of books on polar bears, such as Where Do Polar Bears Live? by Sarah Thomson. As for myself, I just like to go and watch them.
 
Colleen J.
Raytown Branch