NC Zoo

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The boys and I went to the NC Zoo yesterday.  We usually go once each trackout, and we were running out of time and good weather days.  Of particular interest this trip was the new polar bear, Patches.  Patches, who was born at the zoo in Omaha, NE, had already moved one time to the zoo in Eerie, PA. The Eerie zoo needed to rehome Patches, and the NC Zoo eagerly accepted her.  She's 26 years old, which is pretty old for a polar bear, and she is still getting used to her new habitat since she only relocated in November.  Thankfully, we were able to make the polar bear keeper talk.  The keeper threw an ice block with fish in it into the water, and Patches eventually dove in and swam to get it.  We were up top listening and watching but quickly ran down to the underwater glass viewing area to enjoy the action.  We also enjoyed viewing the sea lions, baby gorillas, and lions as well a the other animals and foliage at the zoo.

The NC Zoo is currently building a new polar bear exhibit, and Patches is currently in the old exhibit.  If I understood the keeper correctly, when the new exhibit is complete, the zoo will have 3 separate polar bear habitats, so they will be able to house 3 or more bears at one time depending on male/femlate and if they get along.  There were a lot of new enhancements to the Kids Zone area right across from the polar bear exhibit too.  Kids Zone will reopen in April, and the polar bear exhibit should be done by the end of the summer.

Note, the zoo hosts some of their photos on SmugMug!