Polar Bear Claws

Watch out - I've got polar bear claws! 

Book our Polar Bear Explorations workshop for grade 2's, and let your students check out polar bear claws and teeth, experiment with blubber and ice, compare wild and captive habitats, and join a campaign to help Yupi, a polar bear in a substandard zoo in Mexico.

Comparing Polar Bear Habitats

Grade 2 students at Clairlea PS had a great time learning more about polar bear adaptations during their recent Keep It Wild workshop. They got to experiment with blubber mitts to see how polar bears are insulated against icy waters, and to discover how polar bears migrate across the frozen ice in search of seals.      Then they compared the habitat of Yupi, a polar bear in captivity in Mexico, with the natural habitat of the polar bear. 

A Polar Bear catching a Seal at a breathing hole (by Aryan)

Yupi in captivity (by Aryan) 

Comparing a wild habitat with a captive one (by Isobelle) 

Polar Bears travelling in the wild  (by Tom)

Students used persuasive writing to send a message to the zoo in Mexico. Many students suggested sending Yupi to a polar bear sanctuary in Northern Ontario (Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat). 

       Ryder's message said:

          Let Yupi out of the zoo. She might be sad, bored, hot, trapped, and unhappy. 

Thanks for your great work learning more about wild animals and helping Yupi the polar bear! 

A video to help polar bears

Check out this great video by students at Davyhulme primary school in the UK. After learning about Yupi the polar bear's situation the students wanted to do something to help. They are hoping to raise awareness about the issue of polar bears in captivity in hot climates. What a fantastic and inspiring video. Thanks for trying to help the animals! 

Dear Zookeeper

     Dear Zookeeper. Please give Yupi some toys. from Elvis.

Update on Yupi the Polar Bear

Yupi in Captivity by Ronan, grade 2, Reesor Park PS

Yupi is a female polar bear living in Parque Zoologico Benito Juarez in Morelia Mexico. Her concrete enclosure has very little shade and nothing to do. The soaring temperatures in Mexico are difficult for a polar bear to deal with as they are adapted to survive in Arctic conditions and overheat easily. One of the worst parts of her captivity is that for the majority of the day, as much as seventeen hours, she is locked off-site in a barren concrete cell. 

But more and more people are becoming aware of her plight. There is currently a wildlife park in South Yorkshire that hopes to provide a new home for Yupi on a ten acre reserve. Learn more about  Project Polar, the Yorkshire Wildlife Park Foundation's plan to rescue Yupi. 

The grade 2 students at Ressor Park recently participated in a Keep It Wild workshop about polar bears, and they learned about Yupi's plight. To learn more about our workshops, check out our website  Here are some of their comments:

I do not agree for her to be in this hot zoo.  - Isabella

Free Yupi, pretty please. 

We want Yupi to have a better place to live and give her a friend.  - Tristan

Dear Zookeeper. Please give Yupi snow and a colder place. - Hayden

I could help Yupi by telling the zoo keeper that he could help Yupi to put her in a colder place. 

 - Raymond

Please move Yupi to a better polar bear habitat. She is too hot!! - Matthew

Dear: Zookeeper. Please send Yupi to a sanctuary please!  - Cam

Keep following our blog for more comments and pictures from students at Reesor Park PS. 

Polar Bears Love Snow

Students have been working hard on the campaign to get Yupi, a polar bear who lives in a zoo in Mexico, moved to a better habitat. Dear Zookeeper, writes Abhipsa, who is in grade 1 at Rose Avenue PS in Toronto, please give Yupi lots of snow and lots of ice and keep her in a cold place. Thank you. Her classmates also wrote postcards and drew pictures to bring awareness to Yupi's plight. All the students agreed that polar bears and snow belong together!

 

     

More Polar Bear Postcards

As promised, here are a few more of the great postcards created by students in grades 2/3 at Downtown Alternative School.

As you can see from the pictures, the students learned about polar bears hunting seals. In the wild polar bears migrate over the pack ice, searching for seal breathing holes, and waiting for hours for a chance to kill a seal.

In captivity, polar bears lack the freedom to move and travel as they would if they were hunting. They also lack the stimulation and excitment of hunting for their prey.

Yupi faces the additional challenge of being in captivity in a tropical climate. Hopefully the postcards and messages make a difference for Yupi. Learn more about Yupi the polar bear at: http://www.saveyupi.com/