Facility

Location: Buffalo Zoo

Address:  300 Parkside Ave, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA

Telephone:  +1 716 837 3900

Website contact form: https://buffalozoo.org/about/#contact

Website:  https://buffalozoo.org

Exhibit: Arctic Edge

Bears

Luna (female) born in captivity in Buffalo Zoo 27 November 2012.

Sakari (male) born in captivity in Toledo Zoo & Aquarium, Ohio 15 September 2014.  Arrived at Buffalo 21 November 2016.

Details

Buffalo Zoo is the third oldest in the United States having been founded in 1875.

The Arctic Edge exhibit opened in September 2015, costing $14 million.  There are two polar bear exhibits plus a bald eagle exhibit, an Arctic fox exhibit and a Eurasian lynx exhibit.  The exhibit occupies a total area of 2.5 acres (0.6 hectares).

Each of the two polar bear exhibits includes a salt water pool, dig pit and other enrichment areas for the bears and a number of vantage points from which the public can view the bears, including underwater viewing.  The centerpiece of the exhibit is a den area where the public can view the bears at close quarters through a thick sheet of glass.  There is also a “kids den” where children can crawl to gain a unique view of the polar bears.

The polar bear exhibits were designed to replicate the climate of the Arctic Circle.  There are naturalistic landscapes including boulders and natural substrates.

Source: Bear Conservation research.

Concerns

1.  Captive breeding programme

More Information

The overall size of the exhibit suggests that it meets present standards regarding the space available for the bears.  The exhibit is modern and well designed.  We have no information at present of the feeding, medical or enrichment regimes in place.  Further information was requested from the zoo on 15 March 2021 and a response is awaited.

The video below, published by the zoo in April 2020, shows Luna and Sakari receiving their first meal of the day.