Germany: Rostock Zoo Plans to Build New Polar Bear & Penguin Enclosure

Last December, after ten years, Rostock Zoo was finally able to again celebrate the birth of a polar bear. On December 3, 2014 polar bear “Vilma” gave birth to the yet nameless young animal, half-brother of Berlin’s famous polar bear “Knut”. At the end of March, when the young animal and its mother will be released into the outdoor enclosure, the offspring’s name will finally be revealed to the public – more than 3,000 proposals have already been submitted to the zoo. The young animal has already become an ambassador for the zoo’s ten million Euro project “Polarium”, which will see the construction of a new polar bear and penguin enclosure until 2017. The new enclosure is set to be built on an 8,000 square meter large area to give a new home to the animals and to provide visitors a better insight into the life of the animals of the polar regions. (eap)