Sunday, July 21, 2013

Behind the scenes at the Toledo Zoo


Suka finds a fish by the pool in the private den at the Arctic Encounter

I took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Arctic Encounter at the Toledo Zoo with some of my local polar bear friends recently. Since Crystal and the Twins Suka and Sakari are in the main exhibit all day, Nan and Marty enjoy life in the back quarters, which has two main areas. Then at 4 p.m., Nan and Marty come into the main exhibit area, and Crystal and her cubs go into the private area.


Ich nahm einen Blick hinter die Kulissen der Arctic Encounter im Toledo Zoo. Seit Crystal und die Twins Suka und Sakari in der Hauptausstellung sind den ganzen Tag, genießen Sie Nan und Marty Leben in den Quartalen zurück, die zwei Hauptbereiche hat. Dann bei 16 Uhr, Nan und Marty in die Hauptausstellung Bereich kommen und Crystal und ihre Jungen gehen in den privaten Bereich.


Behind the scenes...
Entering the forbidden area.
First stop is the water treatment plant, which circulates 500,000 gallons of water for the Polar Bears and the Seals. The Polar Bear pool is100,000 gallons of salt water.


Erste Station ist die Wasser Kläranlage, die 500.000 Gallonen Wasser zirkuliert für die Eisbären und die Seelöwen. Der Eisbär Pool beträgt 100.000 Gallonen Salzwasser.




The state-of-the-art indoor water filtration system
 for the pools of the seals and the polar bear
s



We also saw the freezer where the ice treats for the bears are made.


Wir sahen auch der Gefrierschrank, wo das Eis Leckereien für die Bären gemacht werden.


The goodie freezer, where some of the ice treats
for the bears are made.



There is an outdoor digging yard, which we could see, but it was empty at the time. The cement walls extend five feet into the ground, so the bears can't dig their way out.


Es ist ein Outdoor-Graben Hof, die wir sehen konnten, aber es war zu dem Zeitpunkt leer. Die Betonwände erstrecken sehr tief, so dass die Bären können nicht graben ihren Weg aus.



The private den, with pool. The birthing dens, with cameras, are in the wall to the left.
See the fish on the floor. The roof is open air




The den area is where the cubs and their mother lived until they were ready for the big pool. It has a small pool that can be made shallower with a wooden floor when the cubs are small and just learning to swim.


Die den Bereich ist, wo die Jungen und ihre Mutter lebte, bis sie bereit für den großen Pool waren. Es hat einen kleinen Pool, der flacher gemacht mit einem Holzboden werden kann, wenn die Jungen klein und nur zu lernen, zu schwimmen sind.

Suka finds a fish...


There are two birthing dens here too, where Crystal gave birth to Aurora and Anana and Nan gave birth to Nikita in 2006. Crystal also had Siku here in 2009. Aurora and Anana are now at the Columbus Zoo, Nikita is at the Kansas City Zoo, and Siku is at the Louisville Zoo.

Es gibt zwei Geburt dens auch hier, in dem Crystal gebar Aurora und Anana und Nan gebar Nikita im Jahr 2006. Kristall hatte auch Siku hier im Jahr 2009. Aurora und Anana sind jetzt an der Columbus Zoo, ist Nikita am Kansas City Zoo und Siku ist am Louisville Zoo.



Suka moves the fish to the "pot"
Suka isn't eating the fish, but she is playing with it
The fish is more of a toy than a snack to a polar bear cub
Put it into the pot
Take it out of the pot
Sniff it, lick it.
Put it back in the pot
See if it bends
Crystal will eat the fish, but the cubs just play
. Polar bears don't eat fish in the wild.
Crystal in the private den area

The public main habitat area seen by the visitors has three areas: a protected air conditioned den, the big pool area, and the mountain region, which also has a digging pit and a small pool. The windows are amazing, and visitors can interact with the swimming bears.

Der Lebensraum besteht aus drei Regionen: eine geschützte klimatisierte Höhlen, einen großen Pool und die Bergregion, die hat auch einen Graben Grube und einen kleinen Pool. Die Fenster sind fantastisch, und die Besucher können die Bären schwimmen sehen.



In the public den area...
Crystal nurses the cubs in the sheltered den area of the public enclosure.
 It is air conditioned, and all the bears like to nap here too



Next to "the mountain"



I'm king of the Mountain!


 By the little pool
Crystal inspects the little pool, which is empty. They flush the sand out and  fill it up later


The Arctic Encounter, which has 6000 square feet of land, plus pools, waterfalls and streams, opened in 2000. Before that, the polar bears were in a much smaller, older habitat in the historic part of the zoo, where the sloth bears now live.

Die Arctic Encounter, die eine großes Stück Land sowie Pools, Wasserfällen und Bächen hat, im Jahr 2000 eröffnet.

Davor waren die Eisbären in einem viel kleineren, älteren Lebensraum im historischen Teil des Zoos, wo das Sloth Bears jetzt leben.

 The big outdoor window
Watching Sakari through the big outside view window. The little pool is here too
 The big pool
The 100,000 gallon saltwater pool is great for swimming. Sakari has a bone in his mouth.

The indoor Gallery Windows give a great view of the fun/


There is children's cave area too, where the bears sometimes play.


Die Bären spielen manchmal in der Kinder-Höhle.

 The cave
The play cave, great for relaxing, has big viewing windows

Guests can watch the bears play in the cave, through big windows

See you later....



Suka and Sakari are two of the four polar bear cubs we can see in U.S. Zoos this year. The other two are Kali and Luna in the Buffalo Zoo.

Suka und Sakari sind zwei der vier Eisbärenkinder wir in US-Zoos sehen kann in diesem Jahr. Die anderen beiden sind Kali und Luna in der Buffalo Zoo.


3 comments:

  1. Dear Molly - you did spoil your public again with a most charming report, interesting information and beautiful photos of the lovable polar bears. Great stuff. Thank you so much!
    23.07.2013

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  2. Dear Molly,
    behind the scenes is always very thrilling. You brought us wonderful photos. I like the fish in and out the pot very much, looks like Suka wants to cook its fish :)))
    Thanks for all your interesting information.
    Hugs, from caren

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  3. Dear Molly

    Thanks for your interesting and well illustrated report.
    A look behind the scenes is thrilling - the different
    parts of the enclosure look very fine.The twins
    are cute and Crystal is a very relaxed mother.

    Greetings
    Chris

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