London Zoo polar bears make way for Australian Outback

It used to be a glacial home for polar bears but a section of London Zoo is to be given over instead to illustrating how climate change affects animals in the Australian Outback.

The Mappin Terrace has been repopulated with 20 wallabies and four emus to demonstrate how difficult it is for animals to survive in the harsh, dry conditions which are likely to become more prevalent as carbon emissions heat up the environment.



When the terrace opened in 1913, it was the first time members of the public could see animals in an arctic environment.

The attraction, billed as "London's only mountain", also played host to a black bear called Winnie who became the inspiration for Winne the Pooh when A.A. Milne visted the zoo with his son Christopher.

Another famous resident was Brumas the polar bear in the 1950s, who propelled visitor numbers up to three millions - a record that stands to this day.

London Zoo no longer houses polar bears, but the Mappin Terrace has undergone a dramatic transformation to become the site of one of the first climate change educational centres in UK zoos.

More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/14/eazoo114.xml
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Wallabies are nothing new to England; they've been hopping around the countryside for over 50 years!

http://farshores.org/c04wally.htm