SAN DIEGO ZOO CHALLENGES GAMERS TO HELP POLAR BEARS BEAT THE HEAT AND MAKE A POLAR PLEDGE

Online Games by RED Interactive Put Players in the Paws of a Polar Bear

The San Diego Zoo added new online games and a new social networking element to its Web site in celebration of the reopening of its polar bear exhibit. The Conrad Prebys Polar Bear Plunge, which reopened at the Zoo on March 26, was updated with several new features that show how polar bears live in the Arctic and the environmental changes they are facing due to climate change. The Web site brings many of the interactive features of the Zoo's exhibit online.

The Web site at www.sandiegozoo.org/polarbearplunge gives online visitors the chance to make a pledge to create virtual Arctic ice, play games featuring the Zoo's three polar bears - Kalluk, Tatqiq and Chinook - and learn more about conserving the species.

"The online games and Polar Pledge social networking element of the site take the challenges polar bears face in the Arctic and make them a challenge for Web site visitors," said Damien Lasater, design manager for the San Diego Zoo. "It's the goal of the San Diego Zoo to connect people to wildlife. Online games that entertain and educate are an ideal way to connect our audience with the charismatic polar bear."

Visitors can create Arctic ice online by pledging to decrease their carbon footprint. Ways to decrease carbon emissions include recycling old computers, printers, and cell phones, using a push mower instead of gas-powered equipment and buying energy-efficient appliances when replacing old ones. If visitors sign into the Polar Bear Plunge Web site using their Facebook account, their pledge is posted on their profile wall so friends can see the pledge they took to reduce their impact on the environment. Players without a Facebook account can still enjoy the site by playing the online games, learning about the exhibit and viewing the Polar Pledge area as "guests."

In the game "Kalluk's Polar Walk," players are challenged to connect floating pieces of ice to create a pathway for Kalluk. Players click and drag floating ice pieces to create his path, and each connection earns points. The longer the player can keep Kalluk walking on ice, the higher the score.

The second of the Zoo's three online games, "Chinook's Beat the Heat," challenges players to reunite Chinook with a polar bear cub sitting on a different ice floe. As heat falls toward the ice, players must click and drag to create shields that protect the ice and the bears. Each time a player successfully blocks the falling heat, the polar bears move closer together. If too much heat reaches the ice, the bears and the ice drift farther apart. Players who can block the most heat and reunite Chinook with her cub earn the most points.

Set to launch in April, "Tatqiq's Keep It Cool" is a beat-the-clock style game where players help to keep Tatqiq's home cool by recycling, saving energy, or turning off running water. A thermometer on the screen keeps the score of the game. When icons of faucets, light bulbs, and surge protectors appear on the screen, the player is challenged to quickly turn items off or change them into more energy-efficient items before they cause an on-screen thermometer to rise in temperature in the given timeframe. Each successful change earns points, and the lower the temperature at the end of the game, the more the score is multiplied for higher points. There are three levels and each increase in the amount of time and difficulty.

RED Interactive Agency of Santa Monica, Calif., designed the Polar Bear Plunge Web site. "We set out to design a site that would transport an online audience to a virtual Arctic habitat, complete with the sights, sounds and the temperature of the Arctic," said Brian Kessman, senior digital producer for RED Interactive Agency. "By combining games and site interactions with social networking, this site appeals to a large online audience, which we hope will encourage more people to work toward saving the polar bear's habitat."

Other elements of the mini site include a temperature reading from Barrow, Alaska, located in the Arctic, and a link to the adopt-a-polar-bear program, where people can donate to the care and enrichment of the San Diego Zoo's polar bears. A link to an online carbon calculator will help visitors gauge the carbon dioxide emissions for their household. There also is a connection to blogs about polar bears by keepers and researchers with the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research.

RED Interactive Agency is an award-winning digital agency with offices in Santa Monica and Salt Lake City. For more information, please visit http://www.ff0000.com/.

The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats. The organization focuses on conservation and research work around the globe, educates millions of individuals a year about wildlife and maintains accredited horticultural, animal, library and photo collections. The Zoo also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, which includes a 900-acre native species reserve, and the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.