Zoo puts sightseers in cages
Date: 11-Jan-02
Country: CANADA
The zoo thinks that people, not the animals, should be in cages.
At St-Felicien zoo, about 200 miles north of the provincial capital Quebec City,
the animals roam free while the humans are caged - protected inside screened
vehicles that wind along a 4.5 mile trail, past wandering bison, moose and
wolves.
Visitors also get to view grizzly bears, mountain lions, Dall sheep, lynx and
seals from raised wooden promenades.
"The zoo's mission is not only to educate and entertain the public but to play an
important role as a centre of conservation for boreal biodiversity," spokeswoman
Sylvie Bouchard said on Thursday.
St-Felicien's latest additions are two orphaned polar bear cubs, Aurora and
Nakita, that were found near Hudson Bay last January.
The "frisky sisters", who are still adapting to their new habitat, will make
their public debut this weekend. More than 200,000 people are expected to visit
them this year, zoo officials predict.
Now weighing 140 kg (300 lb) - less than half their 320 kg adult weight - the
cubs were just the size of cocker spaniels when they were found on the ice in
northern Ontario. The siblings were airlifted to the Toronto Zoo, where they were
hand-reared until their move to St-Felicien.
The new polar bear exhibit will allow visitors a nose-to-nose encounter with the
young bears - with plate glass in between - as they swim in their 450,000-litre
pool.
