Aurora is the name of Hudson’s mother. She was a ten year old female at the Toronto Zoo when she had Hudson.
Here are some female polar bear facts:
- The average height of a female polar bear is 2 metres (or 6.5 feet). The average weight is 500 pounds. They fur has an off-white appearance. The polar bear’s skin is black.
- They are great swimmers. They have been seen swimming 80 km (or 50 miles) away from ice or land.
- A pregnant female digs a den to have her cubs. They have 1-3 cubs. A polar bear cub is no bigger than a rat when it is born.
- Polar bears can live up to 25-30 years in the wild.
- They eat mostly ringed or bearded seals. Sometimes they eat other animal.
- Polar bears have a great sense of smell. They can smell prey from a kilometre away. http://library.thinkquest.org/3500/polarbear.html
The aurora borealis is also a natural light display. In northern latitudes, this light display is known as the aurora borealis, or the “northern lights.” We can sometimes see them in Winnipeg. Aurora means “sunrise.” The word “Aurora” is named after the Roman goddess of dawn. Boreas is the Greek name for north wind. They were named by Pierre Gassendi in 1621. The lights are usually green but sometimes can be a faint red that looks like the sun is coming up in a strange place.
Did you know that Australia has “northern lights”, too? They are called the ‘aurora australis,’ or the southern lights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)
By: Kelsey
Beaverlodge School
Congratulations to Jean Déniche on the FTF for Aurora!