[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/UlUf_I9Pi2w" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]Hope, the St. Louis Zoo’s last polar bear, died at the end of March ^[1] at the age of 23.

Last spring, Kevin Horrigan and I produced a video ^[2] about Zoo president Jeffrey Bonner’s long term vision (zoo 2033), at the end of which Hope appears.

I searched my computer’s hard drive and found several other clips of Hope, which I have strung together and present with this post.

She really is lovely, and I think this is a nice way to remember a beloved zoo animal.

A remembrance that has iconic status at the St. Louis Zoo, of course, is the mounted remains of Phil the Gorilla, who died more than 50 years ago ^[3].

Use of a taxidermist might not be considered in the best of taste by today’s standards, and maybe would be considered unnecessary given all the options for digital recording.

But that has risks, too. It’s worth pointing out that Phil sat for a rather undignified film shoot ^[4], that had a near disasterous ending ^[5].