CHICAGO — It's not too late to save the world's polar bears, according to one Lincoln Park Zoo keeper.
Anthony Nielsen, Lincoln Park Zoo's lead keeper of carnivores, just returned from a weeklong trip to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada — one of the world's best places to spot a polar bear. Nielsen, who traveled with members of the conservation group Polar Bears International, saw at least one polar bear every day during his time in the Canadian arctic, and he said those bears looked healthy.
"To see one come across your path in the wild just takes your breath away," said Nielsen, of Uptown.
According to Polar Bears International, about 20,000-25,000 polar bears exist in the wild despite their prime hunting habitat — pack ice — melting at an unprecedented rate during to global warming. That includes a good population near Churchill, through which the bears pass before walking onto a frozen-over Hudson Bay.
Lincoln Park Zoo does not have a polar bear, but that will change next fall with the introduction of the Walter Family Arctic Tundra and Robert and Mayari Pritzker Penguin Cove exhibits. At least two polar bears will make their home at the zoo.
Nielsen ventured to Churchill to learn ways people in Chicago can help prevent global warming — and in doing so save polar bears.
"It's pretty much trying to get people excited about saving polar bears," Nielsen said. "They should know what they do at home makes an impact and can help save them. When it's recycling or planting a tree, anything little thing they could do can help with emissions."
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