Chicago Polar Bear No Match For Polar Vortex

FILE – In this Feb. 27, 2008 file photo provided by the Lincoln Park Zoo is Anana, the Chicago zoo’s resident female polar bear. The zoo says Anana was kept inside Monday, Jan. 6, 2014 because of the record-low temperatures. Zoo spokeswoman Sharon Dewar says that while the below-zero weather might be comparable to what polar bears experience in the wild, Anana doesn?t have a thick layer of fat because she gets a different diet. She?ll be allowed to venture outside Tuesday, if she chooses to. (AP Photo/Greg Neise, Lincoln Park Zoo, File)

Temperatures drop too low for Chicago’s Polar Bear

The polar vortex sitting over North America has dropped temperatures to record lows, temperatures that zookeepers in Chicago feared would be too cold for their resident polar bear. With the windy city rarely seeing temperatures Anana the polar bear would see in the wild the animal is not prepared for outdoor life in the sub zero temperatures of recent days.

As temperatures plummeted below zero on Sunday night, Anana’s keepers decided the frigid temperatures on Monday morning were too cold to allow the bear to venture outside. Instead, Anana was kept in her climate controlled indoor enclosure where temperatures are kept between 40 and 50 degrees.

The diet of wild polar bears allows them to prepare their bodies for the freezing temperatures of their natural habitats. By eating fatty animals, such as seal and whale the polar bear of the wild takes in large amounts of fat that form a protective layer against freezing cold temperatures. Living at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, Anana does not require the excess fat that would make her uncomfortable in warmer months and is fed a healthier, leaner diet. Because of this lack of protection from the cold Anana was kept indoors Monday, but will be allowed outside on Tuesday.

Many Parts Of North America had a hard time dealing with the bitter cold this week.

School closures were reported from as far afield as Minneapolis and Chicago in the north to Atlanta and northern Florida in the south.

The eastern seaboard, which had escaped the initial impact of the polar vortex, was also affected. Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York state, closed swathes of the state highways as a precaution.

The frozen mist from Niagara Falls coats the landscape around Prospect Point at Niagara Falls State Park. The Polar Vortex brought high winds and frigid temperatures to the area Tuesday.

In Illinois, the governor, Pat Quinn, declared a state of emergency as the state wrestled with the most severe temperatures in two decades. It was so cold that water thrown into the air turned into ice before landing on the ground.

In Iowa, Tom Rauen became an internet sensation when he posted a film on YouTube showing a wet T-shirt turning into ice in a minute.

“I thought it would be cool if I could shape it into what it would look like if someone was wearing it,” he said. “I left it standing up on the sidewalk for a while and when I brought it inside there was a little tear in it – just from it freezing, it had become it very brittle. I took the tear and just ripped the T-shirt in half like it was a piece of paper. It was crazy.”

The cold weather in the South triggered fears that the Florida citrus crop could be hit. America’s transport system continued to be affected. In Illinois, more than 500 passengers were stuck on three Amtrak trains overnight after they were trapped by the snow. Thousands of flights cancelled across the country.

Across Canada and the U.S., temperatures are expected to climb slowly by the end of the week.

On The Web:

chicago polar bear
http://news.yahoo.com/39-even-too-cold-polar-bears-chicago-170208717.html

chicago polar bear: Chicago zoo took polar bear indoors to keep warm
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/01/08/just-how-cold-was-it-in-the-u-s-due-to-the-polar-vortex-chicago-zoo-took-polar-bear-indoors-to-keep-warm/