St. Paul polar bears are taking a winter vacation -- to Buffalo

Jerry Holt, Star Tribune

Alex Yang, a third-grader at Falcon Heights Elementary School, tossed a 5-gallon water bottle containing treats for the two polar bears at Como Zoo in November when he and the school’s principal were acting zoo keepers for a day.

Last update: January 18, 2008 - 9:21 PM

Polar bears Neil and Buzz are getting shuffled off to a zoo in Buffalo -- New York, that is -- while their digs at the Como Zoo in St. Paul get an extreme makeover.

A send-off party for the furry pair -- 12-year-old twins -- is set for today. The male bears, named for the Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, will leave sometime in February and won't be back until 2010, when the $14 million Polar Bear Odyssey is finished.

And how do you move polar bears, the world's largest land predators, 930 or so miles? A refrigerated truck will carry Neil (972 pounds) and Buzz (812 pounds), said zoo spokeswoman Michelle Furrer.

The trip will be nonstop -- no, the bears won't get out and stretch their legs at any rest stops -- with multiple drivers trading off, Furrer said.

Since their arrival at Como six years ago, the two have been padding around a small, outdated pool.

That pool, with its underwater viewing area in the aquatics building, will remain after the upgrade. But the Polar Bear Odyssey will be several times larger and allow visitors to see the bears exhibit natural behaviors such as digging, swimming, foraging and hunting.

The expansion also gives the zoo the option to bring in additional polar bears, Furrer said.

Robert Buchanan, president of Polar Bears International, will participate as a speaker at today's festivities.

For more information, visit www.comozooconservatory. org.

PAUL WALSH

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