Polar Bear Kali expected to move to Saint Louis Zoo

Luna’s mother Anana to re- join Luna in Buffalo 

Pending the final approval of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and under the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums [AZA], the Buffalo Zoo anticipates moving the juvenile polar bear Kali to the Saint Louis Zoo for its new arctic exhibit, Polar Bear Point.

Kali, the young male cub rescued in Alaska after the death of his mother, came to the Buffalo Zoo in May of 2013 to join Luna, the young female cub born at the Buffalo Zoo in November 2012. In cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Polar Bear Species Survival Plan® (SSP) of the AZA, it was determined at that time that the best placement for the orphan cub would be Buffalo, where both cubs could benefit from the company of another bear during their important developmental period.

“Keeping the bears together for the first 2 ½ years of their life was important to their social and psychological development, but now they have reached the age where they would be separating from their mothers and siblings if in the wild,” said Buffalo Zoo President and CEO Donna M. Fernandes.

“We would like to invite the Western New York community to come to the Buffalo Zoo to say good bye to Kali and wish him well as he prepares to travel to his new home. Kali is expected to leave Buffalo toward the end of April,” she added.

This photo of Kali was taken in 2013. Now he weighs over 800 lbs!

The Buffalo Zoo expects to welcome Luna’s mother, Anana, back to Buffalo later in the spring.  Anana has spent the last two years at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago on breeding loan.

“While saying goodbye to Kali will be sad to all of us who have grown to love him, we are delighted to be getting back our breeding female and the opportunity for more cubs,” Fernandes continued.

The Buffalo Zoo is a pioneer among zoos its size in supporting and expanding the gene pool of a diverse number of wild animals. In fact, the Buffalo Zoo is responsible for 4,710 births among 32 species. Buffalo, Toronto and Toledo are the only North American zoos that successfully reared polar bear cubs in the last five years. In all, the Buffalo Zoo polar bear breeding program has produced 10 cubs since 1985.

Following the departure of Kali, who is now more than 800 pounds, Luna will move to the polar bear holding facility in the Buffalo Zoo’s new Arctic Edge exhibit.

“We will arrange for a video camera feed so visitors can observe her while she awaits completion of her new outdoor habitat,” Fernandes said.

The new $14 million Arctic Edge exhibit design specifically accounted for the Zoo’s track record in breeding polar bears and development of protocols that enhance those efforts. Arctic Edge, will also contain wolves, bald eagles and Canadian lynx, and is scheduled to open in September 2015.

Celebrate the Polar Bear Cubs' Birthdays at the Buffalo Zoo!

Come to a special birthday party for Luna and Kali the polar bear cubs at the Buffalo Zoo!

The event will take place on Saturday, November 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be free with regular Zoo admission.

Polar Bear Cubs Kali and Luna (June, 2013)

There will be a variety of family-friendly activities in the Zoo’s reptile house, adjacent to the cubs’ current location in the tiger exhibit. Visitors will be able to warm up with hot chocolate, play pin the bear on the iceberg, sign a birthday card for the cubs, and learn about energy conservation while decorating light switch plates to take home.  There will also be special programs in front of the cubs’ exhibit during the event. The complete schedule follows: 

• 10 a.m. – Birthday cake for the cubs
• 11 a.m. – Birthday presents for the cubs
• 11:30 a.m. – Q&A with the cubs’ keeper and second mommy, Caitlyn
• 12 p.m. – Sing “Happy Birthday” to the cubs
• 1 p.m. – Birthday presents for the cubs
• 1:30 p.m. – Q&A with the cubs’ surrogate mommy, Alice

Luna was born at the Buffalo Zoo on November 27, 2012. She was hand-raised by the Zoo’s veterinary technician and keeper staff. Kali was orphaned in the wild and brought to the Buffalo Zoo in May. He is presumed to be about a month younger than Luna. The Zoo has decided to celebrate their birthdays at the same time with this special event for visitors.

Help the Bears Just by Helping the Planet!

Want an easy way to help the Buffalo Zoo build a new polar bear exhibit? We've teamed up with myActions.org, the social network for the planet to give you just that! By participating in our 15-day challenge, you'll be able to increase your own energy conservation efforts while helping us to raise money for the new Arctic Edge exhibit.

It's super easy! Starting on September 21, you can just click here to sign up and join the Arctic Edge challenge. Select one of our animal teams and then click the yellow "Sign up and Join this team" button.

The 15-day challenge is simple. All you have to do is complete 15 actions in 15 days. The actions can be almost anything that conserves energy, from riding your bike to recycling a can!  After joining a team, you can explore the site to see the categories of actions you and your family can start doing to help the planet (and save polar bears!) To choose an action, just click on the item that closely matches the action you have accomplished.

For every conservation action you do, myActions.org will donate up to $0.50 per action to the Arctic Edge exhibit. Not only will you be helping to protect the polar bears' shrinking natural habitat, but you'll be helping the Buffalo Zoo's polar bears too! Joining is free and easy, so please join the challenge today and become part of this great online green community!

Polar Bear Cubs Temporarily Off Exhibit

The Buffalo Zoo’s two famous polar bear cubs, Luna and Kali, will be temporarily off exhibit beginning on Thursday, September 19.

The Zoo is moving the cubs to a different area of the Zoo in order to relocate them to a larger exhibit space.

Zoo officials expect that the cubs will take about a week to adjust to their new holding area. After that time, the cubs will be back on exhibit in the Zoo’s current tiger exhibit. The tigers, which are a nocturnal species, will take turns on the exhibit with the cubs, and will have access to the exhibit in the evening and overnight.

The Zoo will announce when the cubs are on exhibit in their new space. Anyone who plans to visit the Zoo to see a specific animal is encouraged to call the Zoo before visiting at (716) 837-3900.

Kids help the Zoo and "Our Bears Belong in Buffalo"

The fundraising for our planned Arctic Edge exhibit isn't done, but we are making progress and getting some terrific help from Western New York. The exhibit is slated to be the permanent home for Luna as well as future polar bears, arctic fox, canadian lynx and bald eagle. 

Kindergarten students, as well as first, second, and third graders along with children in the "Life Skills" from Big Tree Elementary raised $1000.00 for the campaign. They presented the money and two birdhouses decorated for Luna and Kali to Zoo Marketing Manager, Michael Powers, on a recent visit to the Zoo.

Students over at the Frederick Law Olmsted School, (School 64) had a variety of fundraisers and faculty came by the Zoo to present a $1500.00 donation to the campaign.

You don't need an entire class to help build a home for Luna. Jacob Frederiksen, a fourth grader at St. Francis of Assisi school in Tonawanda, ran a "Lemonade for Luna" stand on his own and was able to bring $40.00 to contribute to the campaign. 

If you want to help out in getting a permanent home built for Luna with a fundraiser of your own, just let us know. If you would like to donate to the campaign, text "Zoobear" to 56512 or visit the Zoo online at http://www.buffalozoo.org/bear_campaign.html.