Polar bears at Taronga » Taronga Zoo

Polar bears at Taronga
14-07-2008

Many years ago at Taronga Zoo. There was a amzing display of Polar bear pictures. That showed that Taronga once held a group of performing polar bears. Does anyone have pictures or more information about this?

Stuart Webster

15-07-2008

Taronga had a performing polar bear act in about 1965, presented by a German professional trainer named Alfons Arndt.

He had been contracted by Taronga to train their newly acquired dolphins. Dolphins were the "hot" new species in Australia at that time, and a number of commercial marine parks were established along the eastern coast of Australia in the 1960s to display them. Taronga's seal pool had been deepened to allow the keeping of dolphins, but unfortunately their mortality rate was rather high and so they weren't the fashionable species for too long.

Taronga had always had a small circus consisting mainly of dogs, ponies and monkeys, but things got a lot wilder when Alfons Arndt developed both a lion act and a polar bear act for it. The lion act was, I think, 8 young lions which performed a standard, circus type act. The polar bear act (which I saw only once) consisted of 4 or 5 bears, if memory serves me right, which did a fairly basic act (sit-ups, slippery-dip etc.) Polar bears are regarded as the most dangerous large carnivores to train, and the fact that Arndt presented the act for a couple of years and lived to tell about it was a triumph in itself.

Now for the gaps which I can't fill in; Where did the bears come from? They were presumably young animals sourced via American zoos. They weren't Taronga's "regular" polars, which remained in the bear pits in the lower part of the zoo during this time. Where did the bears (and indeed Alfons Arndt) go when his contract expired? (They didn't remain at Taronga.) Steve Robinson could probably shed more light on this. (Come on Steve - write the book!)

Probably the most famous of the old-time polar bear trainers was Willi Hagenbeck of the famous German zoo and circus family. During the wars he regularly presented an act consisting of 18 polar bears in Europe. On one occasion he presented 60 polar bears in the one ring. He was occasionally attacked by his bears, but managed to survive. The German/American tiger trainer Charly Baumann, in his book "Tiger Tiger" wrote; "Hagenbeck's lameness was the result of a polar bear attack early in his career. During this or another assault, I was told, he was also castrated by a bear.....castration has been feared by men working with polar bears because the animals often attack a man's stomach and genitals."

15-07-2008

Hi ARA, thanks for that. I had no information on them. Just a old memory of seeing the pictures.

To all out there. Would still like to some pictures of this?
\
Stuart R Webster

16-07-2008

Just one more comment:-
A European animal trainer named Hans Brick put it rather well; "The polar bear is mean tempered,deceptively quick in attack and what's more his face gives away nothing. When a lion is angry with you, he shows it in his face; but a polar bear keeps a calm expression as he comes, fast, to kill you."

16-07-2008

Taronga's performing polar bears went to Bullens but none of the family could work them so they ended up behind the scenes at Wallacia.

After his stint at the zoo Mr Arndt was a security guard in Sydney for some years. He also did some freelance training, some of which was of great value to a young Steve Robinson.

I last saw him a few years back, living in Tenterfield in retirement.

Mr Arndt presented two big male lions at Taronga in a barber shop type comedy act.

Before his arrival at Taronga, the performing animals were trained and presented by the Cells family. Their subsequent claim to fame was as owners of the celebrity TV chimpanzee Wally Walpamur.

Hans Brick was one of the world's most underrated animal men. He never went to school but he could draw in great detail such things as an elephant's skeletal structure. Although I never met him, his work had a great influence on my life with animals.

27-07-2008

Taronga should re-develop Kodiak Canyon after thier last Kodiak passes away...
I don't think Polar Bear Shores at Seaworld is that suitable (climate wise),
It would be awesome if it was fully covered with glass roofing to keep it chilly!
Taronga has sucsessfully bred them back in the dark ages,
I remember they kept some old bear cages for historical terms with info panels...
Unsure what happened to them, anyone know?

27-07-2008

I really doubt that that would ever happen. the kodiak canyon is going to be home to the sun bears last i heard which is a more appropriate choice of secies given the zoos recent focus on asian animals and the face that the canyon is opposite wild asia. the bear museam still exists at the very base of the zoo in the final row of currently unused exhibits. its near gso and the exit to the sky safari

28-07-2008

Bear Canyon was redesigned in 2001 to suit both Kodiak Bears, and later, Sun bears. Its highly unlikely this exhibit will receive any sort of major update in the next ten years or so given the investment of funds into its upgrade just 8 years ago.