White Black Bear....?

Ok, I've seen it before - but what a good title! Read on....

Well, even though it was raining, I decided that I wanted to take the kids to the zoo for a short trip. We just got a yearly membership (again) and haven't been since last fall. We arrived about an hour before closing, so we just saw a few things.

The zoo's polar bear (who had been the oldest known polar bear in the world) died last winter, so that exhibit was empty - which was a bit of a shame. However, our zoo's White Black Bear was out. Yes - it is a black bear, that is entirely white. (W

ell, in summer it is a creamy colour, but it was pretty white today). I know it is confusing to have a White Black Bear - but it is the easiest thing to call it.... it is an albino black bear. A cou

ple of years ago, there was a report of the white black bear in the wild, when it was a cub. Unfortunately, people started driving to the area hoping to get a glimpse.... and some fed the bears. Enevitably, the mother bear got hit by a truck or a car because they stayed near the highway hoping to be fed. To save the cub's life, they trapped it, and brought it to the zoo.

Our zoo also has an albino Bison (Buffalo).... I don't think there is any history to the white buffalo though.

The kids enjoyed it - they LOVE watching the prairie dogs.