"Coldilocks" Celebrates Her 35th Birthday At Philadelphia Zoo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- There was a big birthday bash at the Philadelphia Zoo today for the oldest polar bear in the United States.
Birthday girl "Coldilocks" is 35 years old!
Zoo visitors sang happy birthday and watched as the oldest polar bear in the country enjoyed some treats- pumpkins with trail mix inside and a 3-tier peanut butter/granola ice cake with raisins on top.
Coldilocks was born in New York and arrived at the Philadelphia Zoo when she was around 1 years old.
For more than three decades, she and her roommate, Klondike, who died in October at the age of 34, were ambassadors at the zoo for wild polar bears and what we can all do to help save them.
"The problem with polar bears in the wild is all about climate change and the melting ice caps," explained Zoo General Curator Kevin Murphy. "So polar bears depend on ice flows to hunt from and the fewer ice flows to hunt from. The shrinking ice in the North affects them dramatically... literally they are starving to death in the Arctic. So turning off light switches helps save energy, which reduces our carbon footprint in the world and slows down that ice flow reduction."
Murphy says the typical lifespan for polar bears in zoos is about 23 years of age and at 35 years old, Coldilocks is a testament to the keepers and the care she is getting.
This weekend from 10 AM- 4 PM you'll be able to wish Coldilocks Happy Birthday and make her a card at the Zoo Noel celebration. Rumor has it, an old friend from the North Pole will be stopping by- Santa Claus.
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