With the unseasonably warm weather the United States is having, it's no wonder that cities around the country aren't having the White Christmases they are used to. In places like New York, it was 80 degrees, in Arizona it was around 60 degrees. But San Diego, California's normal December weather is mid-60s to low 70s. So the weather changes across the country did not apply.
In this adorable video, three polar bears from the San Diego Zoo are rolling around in man-made snow because their temperatures do not reach low enough to match the polar bears' natural habitat. The bears appear to be having a blast and are just loving the addition that the zoo provides as their homes. They act like little puppies rolling in the sun and grass after weeks of pouring rain.
KTLA5, a news channel and website for Southern California, shared that the snow was given to the bears as a gift for the winter season, which leads one to believe that this habitat is not what these three bears are used to. Hidden in the snow for the bears to find were food treats for them to search for as they rolled and played and dug in their new gift. KTLA5 also shared the back story to the bears, telling the public that two of the bears' mother was shot and killed, so they were brought to the zoo. The other bear was found on the streets alone, so he, too, was brought to the zoo. The three polar bears do not know what normal polar bear life is like, so they were awed and astounded by the gift of snow given to them this year.
However, this video makes one think about the ethics behind keeping animals in zoos outside of their natural climate. Is it safe to keep these animals in places that do not match what their bodies naturally need? Are we causing the extinction of a species on our planet for our own personal gain? It's videos like these that should open the eyes of its views. Despite how adorable the video is, we should think twice about the real situation these bears live in. Is it fair that snow is a "gift" to them, when many other polar bears in the world are surrounded by snow, ice, and cooler temperatures year round?
It's one thing to rehabilitate these animals, take care of orphans, and save them from death, but they should be in their own environment. If that means all polar bears have to live in an Alaskan zoo, then so be it. We shouldn't remove animals from their climate because it's not good for their health, especially since they are already going extinct because the ice caps are melting. We're doing more to cause their further extinction when we should be saving them.
