Kalluk and Chinook
We have just finished another celebration of our bears here at the San Diego Zoo with Bear Bonanza. Thank you to everyone who participated and donated to our bears! One of our promotions was meeting with some of you and talking about our wonderful polar bears. I met blog reader Susan, and I told her that I would write more blogs if you would all write how you are reducing your carbon footprint! This morning I read how three of you are doing this—great job!!!!!! Susan, I am holding up my end of the deal!
First, an update on the famous couple, Chinook and Kalluk. It would appear that breeding season is now over. Our biggest tell-all is that Kalluk is now eating again! He is also showing more independence from Chinook. They both are a bit unsettled, so we think it is just their hormones regulating or going into another stage. If Kalluk were in the Arctic, he would be going off to find another female or finding a good fat seal meal. Chinook would be looking for food. Of course we all want to know: is she pregnant? We won’t know until we see cubs born. We’ll definitely keep you posted on any developments!
Let’s not forget our “princess” Tatqiq. She is doing fine and getting extra-special treatment. She is still choosing to go out with Chinook and Kalluk every day. And each day it seems Kalluk spends more time with her. . .did you see them play together on Saturday?
Chinook
Polar bears in the Arctic are beginning an important season. First, females that had cubs are now coming out of their dens and getting out to the ice for their first meals. And this is the first time the cubs are out of the dens and on the ice. The timing is not a coincidence, as in the next month ring seals will also be pupping. These pups are about 50-percent fat and some of the most important food for all polar bears.
Kalluk
It is also breeding season in the Arctic for polar bears. Here at the Zoo we did a study looking at how polar bears find each other at the right time. Initial results from the study are showing that the scent from the skin pads of the bears has a very important role in determining how they find each other. Kalluk did paw-rubbing behaviors just before breeding with Chinook that we had not seen before. Both of them also were very interested in where each other walked. So our bears, it would seem, confirmed this to be important! A concern is that if wild bears lose the ice, then they lose the area of scent trails. We all must reduce our carbon footprint.
Keep letting us know how you are doing in the carbon footprint challenge or how you are inspiring others to make changes, and I will continue to write updates on our bears more often.
JoAnne Simerson is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
Read JoAnne’s previous blog, Polar Bear Breeding Season, Part 2.
Watch the Zoo’s polar bears daily on Polar Cam.
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March 24th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Thanks for the post, JoAnne. I recycle all my paper and cardboard and give all old clothes that are wearable to the PDSA (Pets Dispensary for Sick Animals). At home we use a small amount of LED lighting and also energy saving bulbs where possible. I don’t know if this counts, but I also have lots of trees and bushes in the garden to help the birds, and plants for the butterflies. I’ve also planted some bamboo for the Pandas!
March 24th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Recycling is mandatory by city by-law where I live. We have a bi-weekly pick-up. I also try to do all the usual about putting the lights out and turning the tap off. I do without heat although I’m in a tall building, so I get heat from my neighbors. Still it’s sometimes a chilly decision where I live [Canada]. I’d like to see light rail here, but in the meanwhile, I’ve got rid of the car and use the bus.
More interesting is the fact that I’ve spent the winter doing school programming on polar bears. I have a PowerPoint program that we use. I tell stories about individual bears, talking about the details of polar bear life and trying to make the kids care about the bears they hear about. Then I deliver the facts about Global Warming and the threat of extinction. Tatqiq and Kalluk are part of the program. Occasionally we’ve see indifferent classes, but mostly it has had a powerful effect on them. That’s how I’m trying to save the bears.
I use information gleaned from the internet a lot. One quick question: You know that log that floats out in the pool all the time? What would happen if you took it out of the water? My guess is that somebear would tidy it back into place. And my other guess is that that would be Tatqiq. She’s always seemed to me to be a take-charge kind of bear.
March 24th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Our family recycles whatever our local recycling center will accept. We were recently disappointed when they stopped accepting plastics other than 1 and 2. We also buy “made from recycled materials” products whenever possible.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:15 am
JoAnne, I forgot to mention in my post above that I also recycle glass.
Diane #2, you are so lucky having a bi-weekly collection. Over here we only get a collection once a week, and usually they leave the streets in a mess, so you know when it’s rubbish day. Some areas only get their rubbish collected every two weeks, which is what the government would like right across the country but many councils are fighting this. As you can imagine, this is non too popular.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Thanks for the updates! My carbon footprint reducing contributions (when not watching pandas and polars…): I recycle as much as possible, have CFL lights, keep heat at 68 during the day, 55 at night, AC doesn’t go on until it’s 82 inside during the summer, double paned windows, got solar panels for almost all my yearly electric consumption, am replacing water thirsty lawn with raised beds filled with fruit trees and seasonal veggies (all on drip irrigation), plan my errands (and must have a minimum of 4 to even go anywhere) in a loop to save driving/gas, am looking at the Aptera electric car (go San Diego!!!), and installed the first phase of my very own rainwater harvesting system to capture some of the precious So. Cal rain for later use for my fruit trees and garden. I’m sure I’ve got a few more… every little bit helps!!!
JoAnne, is the Zoo and WAP doing any rainwater harvesting? I’d love to get more places in So Cal doing this – every bit of rainwater collected saves us from spending all the resources importing water from other places!
March 25th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
I don’t know about breeding season being over. Just now [noonish PDT] Chinook was doing some heavy flirting, while Kalluk watched avidly.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
It will be an exciting summer as we wait, watch and learn. I can’t wait to see what Chinook teaches us about polar bear pregnancies, whether she has a pseudopregnancy or an actual pregnancy.
I’m pretty conventional in my conservation measures. I’ve turned down the thermostat on the water heater, I don’t turn on the heat unless it’s below 40 degrees, I recycle, I use canvas or recycled shopping bags, I use fewer trash bags by breaking down what I throw away into the flattest possible pieces so as to take up less space in the trash, I plan errands so there’s no criss-crossing back and forth, I use less cleaners and more natural products (vinegar, lemon juice, etc.), I open the blinds when it’s chilly to get more natural heat, I don’t drink bottled water, I keep the blinds closed in the summer to keep the interior temperature down, I use power strips so I can turn a whole group of gadgets/lights/small appliances off and on as needed…
#5 Suzanne…I feel like an absolute neophyte compared to you! You sound like a pro when it comes to conservation.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Hi, JoAnne and Susan – here is my quick summary of my contribution to reducing my carbon footprint – 98% of incandescent bulbs replaced with CFL bulbs throughout house, house is unlighted except for one light in the room current occupied, installed motion sensor floodlights with CFL bulbs, recycle as much as possible, and compost most of everything that can’t be recycled only one small bag of “trash” makes it out of house weekly; combine errands with required trips to cut down on gas consumption, wash clothes and dishes only when there is a packed load. My garden is 100% organic and planted with companion flowers and veggies to cut down on bugs and promote better growth for my plants.
Check out the big event affecting worldwide carbon footprint this Saturday, 3/28/09. “Organized by the World Wildlife Fund and supported by a host of powerful names … the rolling electric turnoff will take place from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time, beginning in Fiji and following time zones around the globe.” © 2009 msnbc.com
March 26th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I’d like to read more about the polar bears at the San Diego Zoo on this blog. The coverage and photos have been very slight, in my opinion. In fact, I haven’t seen any photos of the snow day for the polar bears. PLEASE!!!!
May I suggest a separate blog be started for the “human-caused global warming” believers.
Thanks for your consideration.
Moderator’s note: We do not have photos from the most recent snow day at Polar Bear Plunge. We’ve posted some from a previous snow day for you to enjoy.
March 27th, 2009 at 8:22 am
#7 Melissa and #8 Margaret – thanks for reminding me… some additional things I do:
Electric/battery mulching lawn mower (no more bags of grass to dump and less need to fertilize lawn because nutrients are returned to lawn from clippings), compost bin for outside greens, worm composting for kitchen greens (the ones the horse doesn’t get (like apple/pear cores)), and I make my own laundry soap (borax, washing powder and grated soap), make my own household cleaners (vinegar, lemon juice from my own lemons, baking soda, etc for recipes), use old, cut up t-shirt pieces for rags instead of paper towels…
#8 Margaret – great job on the 100% organic garden and YEAH on the companion planting. I’m working on that (worm tea and worm casting make wonderful fertilizer). I’m also down to about 1 bag of trash a week, apart from the city recycling bin.
Let’s keep sharing the ideas! I’m a firm believer in ‘every little bit helps’ and when multiplied by all the blog readers, and shared with friends and family… will REALLY add up!
March 27th, 2009 at 11:46 am
My husband and I were on the Polar/Panda tour on 3/20. Jo, you are a great champion of the bears and we enjoyed our time with you and the bears very much. We watched you feed grapes to Chinook right off the bunch! I have fantastic memories and pictures to last a lifetime from that day. Now that I’ve found your blog I am happy to follow along on the latest updates of my favorite bear friends. Because of you I feel personally invested in these bears and their wild cousins. Your impassioned speech about reducing carbon foot prints and your challenge to do what we can was something I’m very interested in. I recycle just about everything I can and carpool every day. I try to walk instead of drive locally, and we’re thinking of getting bikes for longer trips to the lake or the store.
Thank you for a wonderful day!
March 27th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I hope we will see some cubbies!!!! Ok I am reducing my carbon footprint by taking my glass to the recycling plant since they won’t pick itup with the other stuff!
March 28th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Sorry I missed snow day. I saw some snow that was left around on Monday, but that was it. Where O Where have “our” polar bears gone? I have checked day and night all week but haven’t seen any of them. Are they in seclusion now that breeding season is winding down?
March 28th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
As usual, reading these blogs is a very educational endeavor. As I read what others are doing, I am reminded of things I am doing but could do better, and get ideas for new things I can do. Thanks everyone for your input, and Joanne for asking us to share our ideas.
March 29th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Chinook is resting and sleeping with her rear end at the edge of the deck so Kalluk cannot get behind her. Has no one told Kalluk that breeding season is over?
March 29th, 2009 at 11:47 am
For Marie from Yorba Linda, there are some photos on flickr.
March 29th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Hi JoAnne,
Thanks for the great tour on Saturday night!
I believe the most significant and important thing I’ve done to reduce my carbon footprint is choosing not to reproduce. Choosing not to have a child, or children, reduces my carbon footprint far more than all the recycling, telecommuting, composting, insulating, light bulb changing, eating locally, and bringing my own bags will ever do. But I still do those things too.
My 86-year-old mother has 5 children, 7 grandchildren, and 9 great grandchildren. They are all lovely people, but my mother’s decision to reproduce has resulted in 21 additional humans on the planet. If the average carbon dioxide emission is about 10 metric tons, per person, per year, you have to multiply that figure by 21 to calculate the cost of my mother’s reproductive choices. And this example gets really scary when you realize that 16 of these 21 descendants are of reproductive age, or will be in the next few years. I imagine most readers of this blog can do similar calculations with your own families.
I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. My carbon footprint will end with me. I will have no children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren. It is not necessary. The human genome is well represented on the planet. In fact it is overrepresented. I would rather my legacy be the survival of tigers and giant pandas and elephants and whales and rhinos and polar bears.
March 30th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
To Diane: Thanks so much for telling me about the photos on flickr. There are some really adorable photos there. That should keep me occupied for some time. Thanks again, Diane.
March 30th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Hi! I’m also hoping that Chinook will be pregnant with one or two cubs myself! I would love to see a couple of babies running around and swimming with their mom! We haven’t had any polar bear births here in the USA since the birth of twin polar bear cubs back in the 1990s at the Denver Zoo.
I am also doing my part on the recycling front. I’ve been recycling soda and beer cans for a little bit of cash for almost 20 years now. I’ve been recycling newspapers, plastic jugs and bottles for just about 15 years, and recycling plastic bags for just about that long. The newspapers go to a recycle center or to the recycle bin at my son’s school, the plastic jugs and bottles go to a recycle center, the plastic bags go to the recycle boxes at the stores I usually go to. I take clothes and other things to either Goodwill or Salvation Army for resale. We have 4 LED bulbs in 3 lamps right now. One lamp has 3 lights, and 2 of them have the LED lights in them. We try to keep the lights off when we don’t need them, and try to limit water use as much as we can. We haven’t used the heater in our apartment very much either. We usually get the heat from the other apartments on the more colder nites here in Pinellas County, Florida, and those cold nites don’t come that often. We do use a lot of A/C, tho, because my husband has asthma; he needs a comfortable place to live in, especially during our hot and humid summers that last almost 5 months here. We don’t have a car either. The last car we had conked out on us a couple of years ago, we got it junked for some money, and we’ve been riding busses, taxies (when we have the money), asking our neighbors for rides to the store, asking my parents for rides when we need it, and walking. Walking is my biggest problem because I have degenerative arthritis in my lower back, and it does give me fits when I do too much or walk too long. We can’t afford to get another car right now, but when we do get one, we’ll get the Scion Xbox van, a Chrysler PT Cruiser, or another small Chevy car—all must be good on gas mileage. So, that’s what I have been doing on the recycle front and trying to do my best to change our environment around here.
Please let us know about the polar bears and whether Chinook will be having cubs this year! We’re also waiting on panda Bai Yun to go into estrus soon!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
March 30th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
what we’re doing:
1. take the bus or train to work and other places whenever possible.
2. recycling all glass/bottles and paper products (it’s mandatory in my area as well)
3. use an electric lawn mower that also *mulches* the grass instead of having the clippings become landfill waste. it also helps the grass be healthier and helps stop soil erosion.
4. turn off anything (lights, computers, fans, etc) in the house that is not being used and also unplug any rarely used items (like computer printers, rarely used lamps, etc) because they still draw some small current when turned “off.”
5. make sure to use weather stripping around doors/windows to prevent heat loss and i’ve also started turning the heat down, espeecially at bedtime and when we’re not home.
6. using fluorescent bulbs.
7. buying locally grown food as much as possible. local means that less gas was used to bring it to the store and likely that it was grown by small farmers who are less harsh on the environment than larger “factory farms” and often cheaper to boot!
8. become a member of PBI, not that expensive and you get a cool newsletter too
9. use the re-usable cloth bags or re-use paper bags when shopping.
10. don’t buy plastic trash bags. instead, occasionally get your groceries in the paper bags at the store and use those. cheaper and 100% biodegradable.
we’ve been doing all this stuff and more for over 5 years now and mostly it’s pretty simple and easy to do and in many cases saves money on top of being good for the environment and polar bears.
March 30th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
For Chari: I follow all these things. There have been cubs in the USA and, I believe, one in Toronto. Latest were two years ago, one at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago (”Hudson”) and three in Toledo (”Nikita”, and twins “Anana” and “Aurora”). I think Nikita is still in Chicago, but Anana and Aurora have recently been moved to Pittsburgh, where they will be meeting up with Nuka and Koda, males born three years ago in Denver. True, most of the cubs in the news have been in Germany and the Netherlands, but there’s been lots of matchmaking going on this year. Next year, I hope to see a population explosion of cubs to follow into the future.
Also, I wondered what you all thought about the idea that we have so much packaging around us that it’s often way more than the actual product. Do you really need to have so much in our lives? If we had less packaging, we would not all be overwhelmed with the recycling we need to deal with. Recycling reduces garbage, but what if we could also reduce recycling.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:33 am
Who was out this morning at around 6.25am? Couldn’t quite see who it was and they couldn’t quite decide whether to go in for a swim or not.
JoAnne, what do the keepers do in the mornings if one or more of the bears is out and they need to clean their pool etc? Or are they allowed out early some mornings? (The bears, not the keepers!)
March 31st, 2009 at 10:38 am
Diane, I totally agree with you about all the excess packaging. By the time I’ve got to the actual product, I’m so fed up that I can hardly be bothered with it any more! I think in Germany they have large bins at the front of their stores so that people can throw excess packaging away on their way out. But what on earth is the point of that? How about not having the excess stuff in the first place? The worst offender has to be plastic. I don’t know if it happens in the US, but here in the UK we, the consumer, seem to be the ones accused of creating rubbish when it’s actually the manufacturers who are creating all this waste by over-packaging. And if our TV’s, radios, computers etc, stop working, they tell us to throw them away. We need to go back to the days of repairing things and making them last.
One of my lasting impressions of my visit to your lovely country was the lack of litter. Everywhere was spotless and it was lovely. I wish I could say the same about the UK. Nobody cares any more and those of us that do are fighting a losing battle.
Another ‘bad’ thing is chemicals. I never use chemicals in my garden. Nor do I kill slugs or snails. I love my snails and I rescue them before I put the paper bin out for collection. If I grow plants that the snails eat, then I don’t grow that one again or I make sure it’s out of their way. OK, now everyone KNOWS that I am totally mad!!
March 31st, 2009 at 7:30 pm
I’m in Canada, and there’s a lot more room here, plus I think we deal with getting-rid-of a little more efficiently. There are pick-ups of various kinds and people (junk dealers) who will come and take it away for a hauling fee. Still litter is a problem. Now we have bi-weekly recycling collection but that comes with “harvesters”, who move in early to collect what they can return for cash (mostly bottles). Sometimes too people put unwanted furniture (mostly couches) at the curb; anyone can take them for free. But I agree with you mostly about packaging. Why do we have to have a wad of paper and a hunk of plastic with just about anything we buy?
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:27 am
Hi! I know what some of you are saying about the packaging of alot of products in the stores. Fresh veggies do not really have to be packaged in bulk; I prefer to have them on the shelves so that we can pick the ones we want without having to buy a huge bag, such as potatoes. There are alot of other products that do require packaging for health and safety reasons, such as frozen foods, meat. Meat is especially sensitive to contamination if left out in the open in the coolers. They are susceptible to salmonella and ecoli, so they have to be packaged with FDA standards. So, we will just have to deal with the packaging until there is some type of technology that can protect cold/frozen foods and meat better, and that technology is a long way off right now. We can recycle what we can, tho. Unfortunately, I have to have a friend take me to my recycle places because the trash companies here in Pinellas County, FL do not have recycle pickups at any of the apartment complexes around here, and I live in an apartment complex! We all need to do something about that.
Tybear, I have at least 8 cloth bags that I have bought for about a $1.00 each at the stores I usually go to, but I still use plastic bags and paper bags when I don’t have the cloth bags with me. I do recycle the plastic bags at stores that have recycle boxes for them, and I use the paper bags to pack my newspapers in to take to the recycle bin easier.
I made a suggestion to the panda keepers about their old bamboo coolers after they get their new cooler installed—have the old coolers recycled. That will bring in some money for the zoo!
I’m waiting for any new updates about Chinook and her possible pregnancy. Keep us informed about her progress, ok?
Well, gonna go and do some errands. Will check back in later on about Chinook.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
April 5th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
this is a great blog it has a lot of info on all the bears
April 7th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Why doesn’t the webcam open for the Polar Bears? This is the third day with no bears………..having bear withdrawal.
Moderator’s note We are trying to resolve the problem. Please “bear” with us!
May 15th, 2009 at 5:44 am
It’s great that the Polar Bears are doing well in the zoo, but over all Polar Bears population is diving down deep. Global warming has obviously made this specific species, living in the wild, decrease in numbers, so maybe restalking the wild will be in the near future for the zoo. It’s great for zoos to capture animals and have them mate to reproduce and increase the population, but they should also start giving back to the wild. The Polar Bears will become extinct without our help!
Is there a link to the carbon footprint challenge?
Moderator’s note: No link, just JoAnne’s request to hear what polar bear fans are doing. Now we need to get JoAnne to write another post!