I recently returned from a trip to the Toledo Zoo where I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Nikita, the polar bear that will be joining us at the Kansas City Zoo. He is going to be an awesome addition to our animal collection. Nikita is currently 3 years old and he weighs over 800 lbs already! He is very playful and wants to investigate anything new.
His favorite toy to play with is a 55gallon plastic barrel. I watched him play with this barrel for over an hour. He took it all around his exhibit, in the water, out of the water, everywhere. Polar Bears (and Nikita especially) are very strong and destructive. It only takes him about three days before his beloved barrel is torn in half and he needs a new one.
In the wild polar bears mainly eat seals. In the zoo Nikita’s current diet consist of fish (trout and capelin), a dry food, and a nice dollop of beef lard! He also gets some fruits and vegetables as enrichment. One of his favorite enrichment foods is cantaloupe, especially if it is frozen first.
I really enjoyed my trip to the Toledo Zoo. Everyone there was really great, and gave me lots of great information about Nikita and about polar bears in general. I can’t wait for Nikita to come to the Kansas City Zoo and for everyone to meet him.
Andrea O’Daniels
Zookeeper
