Talk of the town...Mercedes and the snow....

Nun mal etwas anderes zwischendurch...

Da haben die Fans von Mercedes nicht schlecht gestaunt, anstatt im Schnee herumzutollen, wie es sich für eine tolle Eisbärin gehört, sucht sich Mercedes eher ein unbeschneites, warmes Plätzchen, um den Schnee ganz einfach auszusitzen...))FANS of Edinburgh Zoo's former favourite, Mercedes the polar bear, will be intrigued to find out how she reacted to the first snowfall at her new home in the Highland Wildlife Park at Kingussie.

The zoo reveals: "Her reaction was not as exciting as we may have hoped! Rather than playing in the fresh snow, as we would expect the penguins to do, Mercedes decided to find the warmest and least snowy spot in her enclosure, and to sit out the cold snap right there!"

Obviously her years in Scotland's tropics have turned Mercedes into a southern softie.

Source: Evening News/08.12.09
Photo credits: Royal Zoological Society of Edinburgh (RZSS)

Highlands - Breeding Plans...

Erst wenige Wochen sind nach Mercedes Umzug ins Land gegangen, nun gibt es, nicht wirklich völlig überraschend, Presseveröffentlichungen über Absichten, doch Eisbären nachzuzüchten. Nicht mit Mercedes, denn sie gilt mit ihren 27 Jahren als zu alt, aber nach ihrem Tod...Ein Männchen soll her und nach Mercedes Tod ein Weibchen...Wer weiß, vielleicht schlägt Mercedes dem Zoo noch ein Schnippchen und lebt länger als die für sie noch 5 veranschlagten Jahre, speziell nachdem ihre Lebensbedingungen sich so verbessert haben. Dass Eisbären auch mehr als 40 Jahre alt werden können, wie es uns u.a. Debby mit ihren fast 43 Jahren gezeigt hat, scheint nicht in Erwägung gezogen worden zu sein...Hmm, und wieviele Eingaben wohl schon vorliegen für den männlichen Kandidaten...?-Just a few weeks after Mercedes' relocation and the first press releases are showing up about the zoo's breeding plans in the Highlands...Well noted, not with Mercedes as she is considered as too old for breeding now but after her death... which is to happen within the next 5 years due to the zoo...And then a new female should be brought in...Just for the records in case the zoo ignores, polar bears can live up to more than 40 years as we were shown by Debby...maybe Mercedes will make it even longer, especially now after her enclosure conditions have improved so much...And I wonder how many applications have already been submitted for the male polar bear...

Read full articles here:
- Move over Mercedes -zoo plans to breed polar bears/New Scotsman 10.11.09
- Park in polar bear breeding plan/ BBC 09.11.09

Kaffee, Kuchen und Mercedes...the first pics for the press...

Gestern war die Presse geladen, Mercedes beim Erkunden ihres neuen Geländes zuzuschauen, erst gab's Kaffee und Gebäck, dann zeigte sich die schlagzeilenmachende "Diva, ...-

Yesterday the press was called in to have a look how Mercedes explores her new home...Some coffee and cones before and then the headlines' filling "diva" appeared...


Here some extracts of an article published today giving also some more tiny details about Monday ....

"The final goodbye was a particularly emotional one for Mercedes' keeper of 14 years, Alison Maclean, who will spend a week with her in her new Highland home helping her to settle in.

She said: "The journey to the Highland Park went without a hitch. We stopped off to allow a vet to check her on the way and she was completely calm, lying down in the crate.

"Since she arrived she has explored every corner of her new home and investigated a whole range of new smells. I'm sad to see her go but I'll be by her side for a week and I'll visit often."

Mercedes, who was named after the car company which paid for her to be brought to Scotland, looked particularly dapper on the day of the big move, kitted out in her best dress – a thick layer of mud gathered from a last roll around her pen.

She made the three-and-a-half hour journey on Monday accompanied by Alison, a vet and a small entourage of four zoo staff.

At 8am the half-tonne bear was tempted into the 10-foot crate with a cooked chicken, with the promise of her favourite food – a plate of sweetcorn – when she arrived at her new home. She was sent off on her journey by ten employees and the sound of several shrieking gibbons. ..."

Full article here...

Photo credits:
It's again thanks to Aaron Sneddon who seems to be uploading new pics permanently...)) And thanks to him I have been feeling absolutely privileged during the last days as sitting in the first row...
I asked him too about his personal impression and he confirmed that Mercedes is enjoying herself tremendously. "It's like Christmas for her..." Concerning the staff, that they will certainly miss Mercedes who was very dear to them but that the staff in the Highlands is highly qualified and devoted to the animals, so he thinks it will work out fine..Please enjoy Aaron's photo sets, it is certainly the most comprehensive photo archive concerning the move of a polar bear...