June 20, 2012

Polar bear flees its zoo pen in Duluth, escaping the flood.

There was some heavy rain up at Lake Superior today.
“Even though it’s a large white object, it’s pretty nerve racking,” police spokesman Jim Hansen said of the chase for Berlin [the polar bear]. Zoo officials said she was tranquilized by the zoo’s vet and placed in quarantine....

Two seals managed to swim out of the zoo but were quickly recaptured just outside. Wolniakowski said no dangerous animals left the zoo grounds and that all have been secured.

20 comments:

gadfly said...

Man-made global warming is attacking Polar Bears again!

In captivity, they have obviously forgotten how to swim.

leslyn said...

"nerve-Wracking." With a W. Fire that journalist for deception!

Michael K said...

Years ago, we had a theme park in Orange County that was called Wild Country. The star of its animal collection was an old circus lion who, when he was turned loose in the park, discovered females and went to town. In a couple of years he had 30 cubs. George Burns made jokes about him.

Well, one year we had a heavy rain season and the road through Laguna Canyon flooded. The flooded area was next to the park. Some animals got out of the park including a hippo named "Bubbles." It turned out that Bubbles was successful in hiding in a pond and a couple of weeks went by. She became a local heroine. The park management got frustrated at the cost of watching for her. Finally, they shot her with a tranquilizer gun. She died from that, probably suffocated.

The public turned strongly against the park after that. It was a PR disaster. The park closed a couple of years later.

Michael K said...

Sorry, Lion Country Safari was the name of the park. The animals roamed free and you drove through in your car. No convertibles.

John Burgess said...

Forget "The Bridges of Madison County"! "The Polar Bears of Duluth" pwns it.

MadisonMan said...

Meanwhile, in southern Wisconsin, parched.

edutcher said...

A lot of places are parched, madMan, but, even if the bear didn't get out of the zoo, a polar bear is one nasty adversary.

ndspinelli said...

If those seals were Navy Seals I would say they are both "armed and dangerous."

Crunchy Frog said...

Sorry, Lion Country Safari was the name of the park. The animals roamed free and you drove through in your car. No convertibles.

People would feed the giraffes through the sunroofs of their cars. Was pretty cool, up until one of the rhinos caved in your driver side door.

I always wondered how they could afford the liability insurance.

David said...

Where's the Bob Dylan connection, Althouse. You never miss a chance for a Bob Dylan connection.

Duluth's representatie in the US Congress is Chip Cravaack. How do you like those Aaaples?

mishu said...

Hippos are very dangerous animals. Probably the most dangerous in Africa. Based on that link, not very sanitary either. Regrettably, the people were better off that they shot her.

Freeman Hunt said...

Sad that some of the animals drowned. One can see how that would be especially hard on zookeepers who, presumably, love animals.

ndspinelli said...

Pablo Escobar imported some hippos for his private zoo in Medellin. When he was killed, the hippos got loose and now roam Colombia w/o any natural predators to control them.

leslyn said...

Duluth MN and Superior, WI are in a state of emergency. Even the mall at the top of the hill is flooded with feet of water. People can't get from Duluth to Superior and give versa. Streets are undermined in downtown and cars are falling into sinkholes. Cars are floating in the streets. Streets are closed everywhere and Hwy 13 along Lake Superior is closed. The coal plant in Duluth is flooded and may not reopen for a month. It's an indescribable catastrophe for that area. My brother is staying on his boat overnight 60 miles away from Duluth/Superior to keep trees floating down the river from hitting his boat. Earlier today he asked a motorcylist why the guy was wearing a snowmobile.suit. The guy said "It floats."

leslyn said...

Off topic:

"What D'Ya Know Announcer Dies at Age 70

Methadras said...

Zoos need to be closed down. Real zoologists need to be out in the field, doing real observations. Zoos are an outdated relic that are no longer necessary. Watch animals on tv. There will be enough Jack Hannah shows for that to happen.

Darrell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I hate zoos

Patrick said...

This is going to be awfully bad for Duluth and Superior. I really hope it works out OK, but that's going to be tough to recover from.

Delayna said...

Sounds like the Atlanta flood in 2009. It rained so hard my house flooded from above.

Pix at:
http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/metro/atlanta/best-flood-2009/