This afternoon Allyson & I took advantage of the fantastic weather (75 degrees! In October!) & visited the zoo to see the newest addition, Nikita the polar bear. Nikita is 3.5 years old and weighs 750 lbs. (but he will be over 1000 lbs. when full-grown... in no small part because he eats 22 lbs of food per day). Each of his paws is already larger than a dinner plate.
Nikita is a bit of a clown, with a playful energy:
The water in the 150,000 gallon pool is chilled to 65 degrees (which, ironically, is warmer than the 53 degree water in which I learned to SCUBA dive). Nikita is on "permanent loan" from the Toledo, OH zoo, and he'll provide a great reason to visit the zoo in winter. Everyone was enthralled by him, especially when he pounces into the water, dives down & then rockets upward in front of the crowd, kicking off the glass, launching backward & back underwater, and doing a graceful spin around the rock.
He swims so fast that it's hard to catch him!
Once around the rock, he does it again!
Here's a short video of the move that has already become his trademark. It's amazing how graceful such a large & lumbering animal can be underwater!
Do they have docents at the KC Zoo? I think that you might enjoy "working" there as a volunteer!
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