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2014 Year of the Bear

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A look back...

Sunburst-completeIn celebration of the opening of Colchester Zoo’s bear enclosure ‘Bears of the Rising Sun’, a number of special events took place during 2014 Year of the Bear. There were opportunities to find out more about bears in the wild, as well as to see the bears in their wonderful new environment 'Bears of the Rising Sun'.

Education Programme

Over 70 schools participated in The Year of the Bear education programme and, in total, over 10,000 pupils got involved. It was a fantastic opportunity for schools and groups to get involved in a significant, cross-curricular education programme to accompany the zoos celebrations. Colchester Zoo worked with local schools and groups to come up with a truly unique design for a bear sculpture to help commemorate ‘Year of the Bear’.

Congratulations go to St John's CofE Primary School of Colchester for their winning design of 'Sunburst' the bear for the Year of the Bear education competition. Our judges particularly liked the sun on the bear’s chest representing the sun crescent on the chests of Malayan sun bears, plus the reference to Colchester Zoo’s bear exhibit; Bears of the Rising Sun, which also opened in 2014.

Sunburst the bear has been painted by local artist Cyndi Speer, and is situated within Colchester Zoo for all to enjoy. A big thank you to all the schools who took part in helping us celebrate ‘Year of the Bear’!

Bear Animation

In the spring of 2014, Graphic Arts students at Colchester Institute started work on an animation project that would celebrate Colchester Zoo's Year of the Bear.
Watch the video here!

Road Trip

As part of the celebrations we went on a road trip! People visit us at various locations in June 2014 as we headed out in our Year of the Bear van and bear themed float to spread the word of all the latest news and developments at Colchester Zoo plus the opportunity to receive a fun sticker and a great value voucher.

More...

sunburst-headshotFundraising throughout the year also took place to assist the charity, Free the Bears, in their work to assist and protect, preserve and enrich the lives of bears throughout the world.

Read more about our bears Jo-Jo and Srey Ya here

bear

 Thank you for celebrating Year of the Bear with us throughout 2014!

OPENING TIMES

5.00pm close or dusk if earlier
Last admission to zoo grounds at 4.00pm

Click here for further closing times

 

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Animated gif of a bear