Dear Zookeeper

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

Wildlife in the City

Narwhal graffiti, Sheffield, England. Image: KylaBorg

Check out this link to Earthtouch, featuring 10 graffiti murals that bring wildlife to the city. What a great way to bring nature into an urban setting.

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. 

Lolita the Killer Whale

Lolita is an orca whale captured from the wild in 1970. She has been on display at the Miami Seaquarium in Florida ever since. She is the last surviving orca from a group of almost 50 whales of the Southern Resident Community from the west coast that were captured and used for entertainment between 1965 and 1973.

Lolita was only four years old when she was captured. She has been living in a tank that is only 35 X 80 feet, which is illegal according to the Animal Welfare Act. The tank is also only 18-20 feet deep. There is no protection from the sun, and perhaps worst of all, she is kept alone, socially isolated from any other whales.

The good news is that there is a proposal to retire Lolita in a protected cove near her family's territory. Learn more about Lolita and the full plan for retirement by visiting: Orca Network

Photo of Lolita from Orca Network website

Join Zoocheck for an evening of discussion and images about animals

Elephants at the Bowmanville Zoo

Photo From thestar.com RYAN PFEIFFER / METROLAND

On December 3rd, Limba the elephant was euthanized at the Bowmanville Zoo. Elephants are very social animals but Limba has lived alone for many years.  In October a mass was discovered in her abdomen and later a tumour on her spleen. Despite her serious illness she was still made to walk in the Santa Claus parade a few weeks before. 

Many are concerned that the Bowmanville Zoo is planning to purchase a new elephant to replace Limba. According to CAZA (Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums) zoos should make every effort to maintain elephants in social groupings. They also state it is inappropriate to keep highly social female elephants singly long term. 

Please let the Bowmanville Zoo know how you feel about elephants being kept alone, socially isolated from a group, and how you feel about them acquiring an elephant to replace Limba. You can email them at info@bowmanvillezoo.com, call them at 905-623-5655, or send them a letter at 340 King Street East, Bowmanville, Ontario, L1C 3K5

You may also be interested in signing a petition about this issue at  Change.org