Polar bears at the Wilder Institute Calgary Zoo are one of the creatures who feel at home among the Arctic temperatures hitting the city.
On Thursday, as temperatures sat at around -29 C, the bears were seen frolicking with the ice in their tank at the zoo.
“It doesn’t matter what the cold temperatures are, polar bears are going to polar bear,” Jax Hoggard, supervisor of the zoo’s Wild Canada Zone, said.
Hoggard said the two-acre habitat was designed to keep bears Baffin and Siku entertained.
“We’ve actually created a pool so that we can create an ice shelf for them to actually play with and interact with. (Baffin) can push right through the ice if he wants to,” Hoggard said.
She said the young bears, who have been with the zoo since mid-October 2023, seem to have increased their “play behaviours” when the colder temperatures rolled in.
Temperatures in Calgary are expected to reach as low as -35 C, with wind chill in the -40s, and things aren’t expected to heat up past -10 C until Monday.
Hoggard said a lot of the animals at the Calgary Zoo are cold-tolerant and zookeepers try to create circumstances for them to be able to weather the cold how they want to.
“Their diet is number one. And then choice and control: we’re making sure that they can choose where they want to go,” she said. “They can choose to go to shelter points. They can choose to go to a bed. They can choose to not go into a bed. They have a variety of different options.
“For the animals that are not cold tolerant, like our rainforest species, our savanna species, they all have temperature parameters. So they are locked into their adequate holding spaces or their adequate habitats until the cold snap is over.”
The annual penguin walk is due to begin on Monday, but frigid temperatures may impact when the Falkland Islanders take their stroll.
“Yes, they are from the Falkland Islands. They can handle extremely cold temperatures, but if they don’t have to, we don’t want to force it,” Hoggard said. “Our parameter for them is -25 C just because the temperature of the building is warmer. So we don’t want to give them too much of a shock when they go in and out.”
West of Calgary, Sunshine Village closed its operations due to forecast temperatures below -30 C.
“That’s really for the safety of our guests, for the safety of our team members, and for the integrity of our lift system, as well as enjoyment. It’s not much fun to go out in -30 C temperatures and colder,” VP of brand and communications Kendra Scurfield said.
“If you’re sitting on a gondola or lift and it stops for a prolonged time, the risk for frostbite does skyrocket.
“And we just really want to have an abundance of caution and enjoyment in our minds when we open for our guests.”
Scurfield said closures due to temperatures and weather happen about once a year and it is not very common. She expected Sunshine Village to resume operations on the weekend, but cautioned the decision to reopen is made on an daily basis.
On Wednesday, Winsport announced the closure of its ski and snowboard hill within city limits through to Sunday.
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