Seven Steps to Save the Ocean – Environmental art at the Wildlife Park

At Ranua Wildlife Park you have an opportunity to experience environmental art year-round. Seven Steps to Save the Ocean, by artist / architect Maija Kovari, is an interactive artwork encouraging the audience to do small everyday acts to fight climate change. The work is located in the middle of the park on a tor that used to be an ancient sea shore, thousands of years ago. The audience can walk through the artwork along a wooden walking bridge. Seven Steps to Save the Ocean changes with the seasons. It is a different experience in the summer and in the winter when the snow covers the ground.

Trained both as an architect and visual artist, Maija Kovari works in the fields of urban planning and contemporary art. As an architect she concentrates in planning and urban design. The guiding light of Seven Steps to Save the Ocean is the thought of choice. Over despair and apathy, one can choose hope, and in one’s everyday actions make choices that have a positive impact on future generations.

Name for the Pallas’ cat at the Ranua Wildlife Park

The Pallas’ Cat (manul), arrived to the Ranua Wildlife Park in June, has finally gotten its favourite name. Over 4 861 name suggestions arrived for the competition.

As expected, the most favourite name suggestion was Manu. The name was proposed 536 times, most obviously in honour of the former president of Finland, Mauno Koivisto, as Manu, was his nick-name.

The manul’s outer appearance, with its long, dense fur, inspired many a person suggesting names. The most favourite were Örmy, Mörri, Yrmy, Rölli and Mörkö.

Finally, the name selected for the Pallas’ cat, was Mortti, as, according to the animal attendants, the name describes awfully well the male cat -like character of the manul. The requirements for the name were that it would be short and pithy, starting with the letter m. The name Mortti was suggested 5 times, and therefore, we cast lots for the main prize. Taru Kivinen from Pori won the main prize. Taru Kivinen, with her family, will have the chance to come and stay overnight at the new Arctic Fox glass-igloos at the Ranua Wildlife Park, at the same time, also visiting the park and seeing the daily life of the polar bear family. Other people suggesting the winner name will be remembered with family gift-cards of the Wildlife Park.

In honour of the new name, Mortti-manul will offer Sisu -polar bear chocolates for the first one hundred visitors at the Ranua Wildlife Park on Saturday.

Hawk owl

Hawk owls breed on the coniferous forest belt around the northern hemisphere. Even in Finland it is a northern species, not to be found in the southern parts of the country. Hawk owls live mostly in open coniferous forests, and also, especially in the north, birch-tree covered mountain areas. Because hawk owls nest in holes, they prefer areas with dead standing pine trees or hollow tree-trunks. The hawk owl is active during the day. Its range of distribution depends on the number of its main source of food, namely, small rodents. When food is scarce, hawk owls migrate, and this is when the northern species can be found all the way down in the southernmost parts of Finland also.