The polar bear
Active in the snow in winter.
Xepheid — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Xepheid — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rorolinus — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rorolinus — CC BY-SA 4.0
The northernmost zoo in the world: Ranua, 80 km south of Rovaniemi, holds fifty species of northern animals only, in their natural forest — the polar bear its sole star in Finland, brown bears, wolves, lynx, wolverines, musk oxen, owls and elk in wide enclosures the visitor walks among on a three-kilometre timber boardwalk, over snow in winter. Winter is the best season: polar bears active in the snow and wolves howling in the blue dark, with temperatures reaching twenty below, so dress properly. A restaurant and the famous Fazer chocolate shop stand at the entrance, with cabins for overnight stays. A daily bus from Rovaniemi takes an hour and a quarter each way, or drive; the city's first half-day excursion for anyone wanting real wildlife rather than tame.
Active in the snow in winter.
Three kilometres among forest and enclosures.
Howling in the blue dark.
Rovaniementie 29, Ranua
Hard by bus; by car yes: Ranua in the morning and the village after lunch, with an hour and a quarter's drive each way.