It might come as a surprise, but polar bears and penguins—icons of the Arctic and Antarctic respectively—have never shared the same wild habitat. For much of human history, the very idea of one seeing the other would have been unthinkable. Yet, as European zoos and menageries began collecting ever more exotic animals in the 19th and early 20th centuries, their once-impossible meeting became a reality. While we cannot pinpoint an exact date down to the day or hour, records from several prominent zoological institutions allow us to piece together a plausible and well-documented instance when a polar bear first laid eyes on a penguin.
Historical Backdrop:
The London Zoological Gardens (often simply called the London Zoo), established by the Zoological Society of London in 1828, rapidly became one of the world’s foremost centers for exotic animal display and study. By the mid-19th century, the zoo had already acquired numerous unusual species—lions from Africa, tigers from Asia, kangaroos from Australia, and ev