Penza, 29 December 2016. PenzaNews. The polar bear that lives in the Penza zoo was resettled to a new zoo enclosure and received more freedom – now it can move freely in the territory allotted to it and even swim in a swimming pool.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

According to the director of the zoo Andrey Voskresensky, the animal absolutely enjoys the conditions created for it.

“The bear is happy. Today we even could not force it into the hut in order to clean the enclosure,” he said at the opening ceremony of the new zoo enclosure, which was held on Thursday, December 29.

The head of the zoo noted that the animal never had such elevated mood.

“We were watching him the whole last night.  He saw the night sky for the first time:  he stood at the hind legs and looked up because the enclosure has no roof,” Andrey Voskresensky explained.

At present, there is not enough water in the swimming pool. In several days, it is planned to add as much water as it is needed. After that, the visitors will be able to watch the polar bear diving.

At the same time, adults and children can already be as close to the bear as never before. It becomes possible thanks for two large windows.

Such interaction is very interesting for both people and the animal – the bear willingly poses in front of mobile phone cameras.

As it was reported on September 30, 2011, the young polar bear, which was crossing the Tadibe-yakha river, was noticed by Yamal fishermen.

Later, it was decided to send the animal to the Penza zoo, where it was delivered in November 2012 – during the zoo reconstruction devoted to the 350th anniversary of the city.

Since that time, the bear was kept in a cage.

At the end of 2015, the construction of the new enclosure for the polar bear started in the Penza zoo. It is located in the territory that is called “The Bear’s Corner”. Building the enclosure, the aim was to make the stay of the animal in the zoo similar to the natural living conditions.