Yukon Bay's on the way!

After seven years of preparation and planning, work has started on Hannover Zoo’s new Yukon Bay theme world, whose river, wolf canyon and harbour town will be the new home for polar bears, seals, penguins, wolves, caribou, prairie dogs and bison.

The building site looks very much like the gold rush days in Alaska - digging and shovelling wherever you go! And every week there’s another chapter of the Yukon Bay adventure to be written – the Zoo team is keeping a diary and will report on every step on the trail to Yukon Bay.

22nd Januar 2010
Capri in Canada
In Luigi Amarone´s ice cream parlor a large mural with a view of sunny Capri (Italy) adorns the wall. Bella Italia in Canada.

15th January 2010
The duchess
Piece by piece, the "duchess" is being assembled in Hildesheim (Germany). The replica of the historic little train will play a special role for the Bisons in Yukon Bay.

12th January 2010
Roof of the underwater world
On the market place, a wooden frame is growing higher and higher. The house will later on shelter the entrance to Captain Charters´underwater world deep down in the hull of the ship. Through windows, visitors will be able to watch polar bears, seals and penguins swim and dive.

8th January 2010
I need to use the ...
While the winter rages outside, the interior design of the Market Hall enters the hot phase - currently, the sanitary facilities are being tiled.

31st December 2009
Winter in Yukon Bay
The Canadia theme world is not finished yet, but the scenery is perfect. Temperatures are below cero and Yukon Bay is covered by a good 10 cm of snow.

21st December 2009
The man with the mask
It is bitterly cold - just as in the real Yukon Territory in Canada. The work continues. Piece by piece the rocks of the polar bear enclosure are welded together.

17th December 2009
A rattling mill ...
In just a few weeks time, leaving the entrance tunnel, the watermill will be one of the first eye-catchers in Yukon Bay. Then, the water will come rushing down from the rocks, set the mill into motivion and fill the Yukon river next to the wolves.

15th December 2009
All wrapped up
The good ship ‘Yukon Queen’ is one giant Christmas present at the moment. Before special anti-rust paint can be applied a tent must keep out the cold and the rain.

11th December 2009
A mine with a wolfish view
The mine gallery by the wolf enclosure is almost finished; concrete modelling on the outside is complete and now pit props are being set in the passage to make what used to be elephant stalls look like a real old gold mine. The gaps between them will later be glazed so that visitors can see the wolves up close.

2nd December 2009
Main Street
Yukon Bay market place is well on the way – Main Street, leading from the Fish Hall to the polar bears, is already laid, and the surface of the market place is being stamped firm.

25th November 2009
Bears’ cliff
The polar bear enclosure is taking shape, and high cliffs will surround the realm of these majestic creatures. First the cliff structure is modelled in steel rods and covered with matting onto which concrete will be sprayed. This will then be worked to look so real that Nanuq and Arktos will think they’re in Canada.

13th November 2009
Sea lions’ place in the sun
In the middle of the sea lion pool this ‘rock’ will be their place to sunbathe, sport and play. In these wintry days the shuttering is removed to reveal the bare concrete walls, which will be sprayed with contoured concrete to make it look like a real outcrop in the waves.

9th November 2009
Call of the wild
The wolves have moved in at Yukon Bay. After a few days getting used to the new stall they’re exploring their territory along the Yukon River, keeping an eye on the construction progress.

6th November 2009
Slicing into steel
The ship’s bow is finished and window openings through which visitors will watch the polar bears underwater (their positions marked in yellow on the rust-brown steel) are being cut in the steel plates.

29th October 2009
Sparks are flying
The ship frame is clad in steel plating, welded above and beside the window openings for a clear view of polar bears underwater.

23rd October 2009
Gold and games
Where the viewing platform once stood is now the construction site of the children’s play area with the gold panning sluice. The whole Yukon Bay site can still be seen through the fence.

20th October 2009
Showtime!
A mobile crane assembles the steel frame for the spectator stands beside the seal pool. The sides of the stands will be clad with the façades of houses and warehouses to blend in with the harbourside front.

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