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California: San Diego Zoo, Check out the Polar Bear Exhibit. San Diego Zoo Polar BearThe newly renovated and expanded state-of-the-art Conrad Prebys Polar Bear Plunge provide visitors with a fascinating, hands-on way to experience what it could be like living as a polar bear in the Arctic.

 Kids can check out the website and get to know the resident polar bears Kalluk, Chinook and Tatqiq, as well as learn more about what to expect on their visit. The  exhibit features a whole host of great activities.

Storybooks. Kids and grown-ups alike can get the scoop on polar bears from three super-sized, six- page illustrated storybooks that reveal fun facts about polar bears, tell the tale of how our bears came to live at the San Diego Zoo, and show how researchers learn more about this top Arctic predator. Families can gather around and decide who will read the story and who will turn the pages.

Measure Up. How do you measure up to a polar bear? Life-size statues allow you to stand next to a full-grown adult bear, cozy up to a one-year-old cub, and marvel at a tiny newborn. How many people does it take to equal the weight of an adult male polar bear? Round up friends and family and stand on the scale to reach 1,500 pounds. Are you as hungry as a bear? Open the refrigerators to compare the amount of food a polar bear eats to what you eat.

Polar Bear Den. Contrary to what you might think, polar bears do not hibernate in winter. But female bears create snow dens where they give birth and shelter their cubs. Crawl into a replica of a polar bear den and see how snug it is. Then check out the seal breathing holes in the ice to see how polar bears hunt for food, waiting for a seal to pop up. Kids can even duck under the ice to pop their own heads through the holes next to a seal replica.

Experience Wall. At the experience wall, visitors will have the opportunity to meet our polar bears and their keepers in an exciting new way. At various times throughout the day, keepers will open the large glass panels and interact with the bears through the wire mesh. The bears will demonstrate behaviors they have learned that help our staff take care of them, such as standing upright, which allows keepers to inspect the bear’s belly and paws. Guests will be able to hear the bears as they curiously sniff all the onlookers!

Research Helicopter. San Diego Zoo PaintingResearchers rely on helicopters to find polar bears in the Arctic because helicopters are easier to maneuver than an airplane and can land on the ice and snow. In this exhibit area, visitors can actually climb into a real helicopter that has landed at the Zoo. Guests can discover what researchers are looking for on these flights and how they keep track of the bears they’re studying.

It’s Melting. Here, visitors will approach two displays showing sculpted, three-dimensional maps of Hudson Bay, created from actual NASA satellite images taken in 1989 and 2007. See how the arctic sea ice has changed in less than 20 years and touch the cold “ice packs.” Around the displays, kids can try hunting like a polar bear, stepping and jumping from one ice floe to another on the ground. The goal is to reach the food without expending too much energy.

Carbon Graph. This large, three-dimensional graph illustrates the CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere during the last 300 years, documented by scientists during studies of tree rings and ice core samples. The graph demonstrates how the carbon dioxide levels have increased since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the current level of CO2 in our atmosphere, and the projected continuing increase in levels if humans do not take action. One of the largest contributing factors of rising C02 levels is the use of electricity and natural gas in homes. Visitors will also discover simple changes they can make right now in their own lives to make a difference in the lives of the polar bears.

Make it Happen. 2920 Zoo Drive in Balboa Park, just north of downtown San Diego. (619) 231-1515 or www.sandiegozoo.org/polarbearplunge

Information and images provided by San Diego Zoo. Copyright 2011.

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