Bear Canyon at Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska

Bear Canyon at Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska

From Wikipedia:

The Durham Family Bear Canyon opened in 1989 at a cost of $1.4 million. The canyon has a large 30,000-U.S.-gallon (25,000 imp gal/110,000 L) tank for Polar Bears.

The canyon also has other members of the Ursidae family, which include:

- Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)
- American black bear (Ursus americanus)
- Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis)
- Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus)


Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus). Polar bears are found in the Artic regions around the North Pole. They have black skin and their fur is hollow which reflects light thus making them look white. Omaha's Zoo has one female polar bear named Bam-Bam.

There are 64 polar bears in captivity in American zoos, far short of the 200 considered optimal for maintaining the population over 100 years. Source: Zoos’ Bitter Choice - To Save Some Species, Letting Others Die - NYTimes.com http://goo.gl/UiiLj -- Zoos Have to Decide Which Species to Keep - Graphic http://goo.gl/bfTlh


Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis). Related: It’s a Bear’s World in Kodiak, Alaska - NYTimes.com, 2011.


Grizzly Bear at Omaha Zoo, Nebraska


Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus). Omaha's Zoo is home to two sun bears, one male and one female named HoHo and Cupcake. In the wild, they are found in dense forest regions of Malaysia. Malayan sun bears like to catch the apples keepers toss into their exhibit.