what's your totem?

Knut at Berlin Zoo January 2011

It might seem rather childish this bizarre infatuation I have with Polar Bears. Perhaps it is. I wrote stories about them from the age of 4 or 5 and collected them until I was a teenager (and it quickly became uncool).

This year it was a dream come true for me to see a Polar Bear up close at Berlin Zoo. I must've taken 50 photographs and stood there staring in the freezing cold, shaking off a flu, admiring the magnificent beasts. I think they're awesome, although I cannot deny, there was a part of me that felt a little sad to see these Polar Bears in the desperate place they were in. At a zoo. Another attraction to entertain us and give us insight in to the lives of beasts that in the wild would walk over 5 miles per day. Of course in Knut's case he was saved and the reality is that human intervention is needed to help prevent animal species that are depleting.

Knut, whether he liked it or not, did a great job of bringing attention to a rapidly dwindling species. The hype perhaps didn't do him many favours but may be he helped raise awareness not just for Polar Bears but animals even closer to extinction.

Knut bottom right

He looks pretty sad doesn't he? When we observed Knut and the bears it appeared that he was being bullied in to hiding behind rocks out of their sight. I've since learned there was a mauling and little love from his mother who had rejected him at birth. It certainly wasn't the romantic picture I had in mind.

Sadly, this week Knut died unexpectedly at the age of four (19 March 2011). It appeared he had a fit of some sort before falling in the pool around his enclosure. A sad tale but a reminder of the precious lives these bears lead. There are only 20-25,000 polar bears living in the wild, while the species is not currently endangered, its future is far from certain and if current warming trends continue unabated, scientists believe that polar bears will be vulnerable to extinction within the next century.

Somehow this latest news gave me the boost I needed to get off my ass and do something, hence I've signed myself up for the Sydney half marathon to raise funds for WWF. Given I have cartilage missing from my right knee (and other ailments such as a curved spine, fused vertebrae and a twice fractured coccyx) this is a brave task for me and more specifically my body. And by publicly announcing it - there's no pulling out now... I'm also toying with an idea to trek Everest in Nepal...

WWF are a leader in Polar Bear (and animal) conservation, and unlike me they don't have favourites, why not check out their site to learn more?