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12 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday, July 30, 2000 Great Big Bear H ugs F ro m W o r ld W ild life F u n d o f C a n a d a an d H o p e d a le S h o p p in g C e n tre By K ym Funnell Did you k now ..... It is estimated that as many as 24 species go extina every day. The loss of just one species can have an enormous ripple effea on the Earths biodiversity - the intricate web of life that we also depend on for our food, health, shelter, and our economic prosperity. WWF has been working diligendy over the years to combat the numerous faaors that effea the wildlife and their habitats. What started out as a vision for new colours in the centre from Diane Carpenter, manager of accounting and decor at Hopedale Shopping Centre, turned into a centre-wide pledge to save as many polar bears as possible through the Worid Wildlife Fund (WWF). Diane first heard of the pli^it of the polar bears via the WWF, upon inquiry into their logo and campaigns. What better way to draw the com munity in, than to join a nationwide objective of saving the Hudson Bay Polar Bears and their habitat? So a 21-day campaign was organized, and merchants and patrons alike joined in the fight and donated their money to adopt a polar bear - symbolically of course, you can' t actually take one of these beautiful fuzzy white bears home with you! Tom Muhic, owner/operator of Abbey Health Foods, put forth a challenge to other retailers and business within Hopedale, by adopting a mother and a cub. This challenge was met by CIBC, Professional Stitch, You'nique Hair Design, Body & Bath II, Dr. Federchuk and Sterling Optical, resulting in the adoption of nine additional polar bears. And it is with utmost gratitude that Hopedale Shopping Centre and W WF thanks everyone who par ticipated. A few local and global victories In Canada, the WWF helped protea 2.4 mil lion hectares of wilderness in Ontario, 28,000 heaares in Alberta' s foothills and secured 31 new wilderness sites in Nova Scoda. In Central America's Atlantic Rainforest, the WWF worked with the Honduran government and local communities to expand the Rio Platano Reserve to cover 850,000 hectares. Due to the concentrated efforts of the WWF and localized support, this reserve is now the largest protea ed area in Central America's Atlantic Rainforest. Additionally, by working to stop illegal importation of tiger parts into Canada, WWF is helping to save the world' s few remaining wild dgers. A current ongoing battle of the WWF is the proteaion and expansion of the Giant Panda (found in China). Situated prominendy in the WWF logo, the Giant Panda has been an ongoing concern since 1980, when the WWF became the first international conservation group to work in China. They learned that each panda eats on average up to 10,000 pounds of bamboo a year!! With these stagger ing facts in hand in 1993, the WWF helped the Chinese government create a management plan that outlined a series of aaions that would help the pandas survive. ness areas, it is also home to 28 species found on W W F 's list of Canadian Wldlife at Risk including the polar bear, bowh e a d Their future is our future The WWF has a simple yet comprehensive mission, they are "dedicated to protecting the land and the wildlife, upon which all life, including our own, depends. By working to stop habitat loss, reduce harmful toxic chemi cals, protea species at risk and stop illegal wildlife trade, W WF will ensure a promising future for people and wildlife".The WWF began its work in Canada over 30 yean ago to protea endangered species. It soon became clear that to effeaively protea the wildlife, their wild habitats must be proteaed as well. This means ensuring that these wilderness areas are healthy and free of toxic chemicals. Additionally, due to so many of these endan gered species wintering in the tropics, WWF Canada recognizes the importance of protect ing the wild places in Latin America. Did you k now ..... Humans would have trouble breaking the stalk of bamboo with an axe, while pandas have no trouble munching through it - due to their strong thick jaws, huge cheek muscles and teeth that are seven times bigger than ours! A new concentrated effort of the WWF is found direaed at the Canadian Araic. One of the world' s last remaining awe-inspiring wilder ing warming trends could lead to the extinaion of the polar bears in southwest Hudson Bay within the next century. Due to the rallied support of Hopedale Shopping Centre patrons and mer chants alike, the Wodd Wildlife Fund of Canada is $2,225 richer in it's fight w h a l e , against polar bear peary cari e x t i n c t i o n . bou and T h r o u g h o u t harlequin Hopedale's 21-day duck. The Adopt a Polar Bear polar bear Campaign, 89 polar is often bears were symbolical seen as a ly adopted. Presenting the $2,225.00 cheque that amounts to symbol of Throughout the cam the "symbolic" adoption of 89 polar bears is Diane t h e paign, donations were Carpenter (Hopcdale's Manager of Accounting & Canadian tossed into the gazebo Decor) and Lorric Lewkowicz (Hopedale's Arctic, yet fountain, and into the Marketing & Promotions D ireaor). Symbolically this beau colleaion box next to accepting the cheque on behalf of WWF (in the tiful grace the community kiosk absence of Michelle Pilatzke - WWT's Toronto office ful crea in the centre. People Marketing Manager), is the campaign's mascott ture is at were also able to H.O.P.E. WTiich stands for Help O ut Planet Earth. risk due to adopt their own polar global warming. bear for $25, a mother and a cub for $50, or an Polar bean rely on sea ice to access their diet of entire family of bears for $100. All funds that ringed seals. WTien the spring ice break-up were raised throughout the campaign will go occurs, the bears come ashore and begin their towards the proteaion of the fragile Araic seasonal fast. Until fall freeze-up when they can environment. All donations made were resume hunting, polar bears rely almost exclu matched by Hopedale Group Limited. Even sively on their stored body fat for sustenance. A though Hopedale's Adopt a Polar Bear delicate balance of timing and temperature sus Campaign is ova, for those still eager to help, tains these giant bears. As global temperatures polar bears can still be adopted directly through rise, the ice-free summer period lengthens in WWF of Canada by contaaing them at 1-800 the Araic. WWF funded research has found 26-PAN DA. For more information on how the that for each week earlier that spring break-up WWF protects wildlife and their habitats, visit occurs, the bears weight an average of 10 kg less their website at www.wwf.ca. and the survival rate is dropping. Hudson Bay polar bears are the most southerly in the wodd, hence their sensitivity to the early effects of cli mate change. WWT-funded biologist Dr. Ian Stirling cautions that continu- On behalf o f WWF, Hopedale Shopping Centre wishes to thank everyone whose generous and kind contributions aided in the symbolic adoption o f 89 Polar Bears. Hopedale also thanks The Oakville Beaver for the equally generous support it delivered throughout the 21 day Adopt a Polar Beai Campaign. p o o d n e i g h b o u r to K noV Hopedale Shopping Centre 3 r d L in e & R e b e c c a · 8 2 7 - 0 2 2 9 · w w w .h o p e d a le m a ll.o n .c a S h o p : M o n .- F r i. - 9 : 3 0 a m t o 9 : 0 0 p m · S a t. ^ 9 : 3 0 a m to 6 : 0 0 p m · S u n ^ N o o n t o 5 : 0 0 p m WWF