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17. 03. 10. - 13:00

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17. 03. 10. - 13:00

Polar bears get government godfather

Polar bears at Vienna’s Schönbrunn Zoo got a new godfather yesterday (Tues) in the shape of People’s Party (ÖVP) Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich.

The eco-friendly minister said his godfatherhood of polar bear twins Arktos and Nanuq would draw attention to the consequences of global warming and the threat it poses to the bears’ survival.

"Polar bears are the most threatened by climate change and therefore symbolic figures in the fight against global warming, which threatens the biodiversity of our planet. I have agreed to become the bears’ godfather to help make that clear," Berlakovich said.

Zoo Director Dagmar Schratter welcomed the news and said both the zoo and the politician could do something for polar bears by acting against climate change. She cited conservation breeding and research at the zoo and the development of energy policies at the environment ministry as examples of what could be done.

She added that she welcomed the attention to climate protection that the minister’s godfatherhood would bring.

The polar bear twins seemed happy too as they scoughed an ice cake made of fish, apples and red beets, at the close of the godfatherhood ceremony.

Austrian Times

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