Britain's only polar bear moved north to cooler climate

Britain’s only polar bear has been moved to a colder climate in the Highlands where it will be less likely to feel the effects of global warming.

By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent Mercedes, a 27-year-old sow, has spent the last 25 years in a small enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo. But she had now been moved to a new four-acre enclosure at the Highland Wildlife Park outside Kingussie – one of the coldest parts of the country. The bear was brought to the UK after it was rescued in Canada where it was about to be shot for repeatedly roaming into a small town. The name came from Mercedes Benz, which funded the large mammal’s flight to the UK in 1984, and the bear has since been one of the major visitor attractions at the zoo. Despite the bear’s popularity, animal rights campaigners repeatedly criticised its cramped living conditions at the zoo, where it regularly paced back and forward. David Windmill, chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said Mercedes had been re-located as part of a plan to move animals that were better suited to colder climates to the park. … The campaign group Advocates for Animals said watching Mercedes pacing round in Edinburgh was a “pitiful sight” and the new purpose-built enclosure “could only be better”.