Monday, November 28, 2011

A Golden Afternoon at the Columbus Zoo 

 Just a week before their fifth birthday, Aurora and Anana welcomed me for another visit to their beautiful home at the Columbus Zoo, as the zoo made preparations for their first night of Wild Lights, their Christmas lights celebration. It was a crisp autumn day, and the sunlight, low in the sky, gave a magical luminescence to their fur. The bears, seeming to know that a big crowd was coming to see them that evening, spent most of their time lazing in the golden sunlight, resting up.


The fact that polar bears' fur is made up of clear hollow hairs may enhance the glowing effect of the setting sun.







Aurora and her sister share their enclosure with rustic fishing boats.















Too sleepy to try to catch a fish.

 Aurora and Anana were born on November 25, 2006, in the Toledo Zoo. Their parents are Crystal and Marty, and they have a two year old brother, Siku, who just moved to the Louisville Zoo, where Marty's mother Arki now lives. Also at the Louisville Zoo is the little girl cub Qannik, who was rescued from the Alaskan oil fields.

Jack Hanna and friends promoting the zoo's Wild Lights.


Aurora