Oregon Zoo to celebrate Polar Bear Week with special activities, birthday parties

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Starting Sunday, Oregon Zoo visitors can put their paws up for a whole week of appreciation of polar bears. Plus, they can even help celebrate the birthdays of two very special ladies.

For Polar Bear Week, the zoo will offer a different theme every day, from positive reinforcement training to an 'ice extravaganza.'

They are also going all out for the birthday parties of their own resident polar bears.

“Nora turns 9 on Wednesday and Amelia Gray will be 8 on Friday,” said Amy Hash, a keeper with the zoo’s polar bear habitat. “They’ll both be getting lots of special enrichment to celebrate.”

Additionally, there will be activities showcasing how the bears have helped contribute to scientific research over the years, including testing a high-tech collar to help calibrate tracking collars used on wild bears.

Nora and Amelia Gray have even lent a 'helping paw' to researchers when they helped calibrate a special laser measuring body mass, as well as using a swim flume to help scientists understand the calorie requirements of polar bears in the wild.

Conservationists say the data collected from the use of these technologies will be invaluable for those working to save polar bears in the Arctic, as they are now classified as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

“We still have gaps in understanding how climate change is affecting wild polar bears and it’s essential that the bears in human care help scientists learn more about their species,” said Polar Bears International’s vice president of conservation Amy Cutting. “Zoo bears are perfect candidates to help because they already participate in many health-care behaviors voluntarily and seem to find those experiences enriching.”

Polar Bear Week starts Sunday, Nov. 3 and runs through Saturday Nov. 9. Special keeper talks will also take place at the Polar Passage at 1 p.m. each day.