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ASHEBORO — Love on the ice.

That, among other things, is what the N.C. Zoo is looking to achieve with a multimillion-dollar expansion of its popular polar bear exhibit.

When it comes to expanding the polar bear population at American zoos, there are some daunting obstacles.

First, there are only about 80 in captivity.

And some of those are getting long in the tooth. Others are no longer, shall we say, equipped for the job.

The expansion plan aims to help remedy the situation, said David Jones, the zoo’s director.

The $4.7 million expansion will accommodate some of the critical elements female bears crave in raising cubs: space and privacy. The goal is to create a polar bear breeding program at the zoo.

Plus, the project is a good way to enhance what already is a strong draw for visitors.

“I’m pretty sure the polar bears have been number one for some time now,” Jones said.

The exhibit, which is being designed, would greatly expand the space the bears have to roam, Jones said.

Highly mobile animals, polar bears continually roam in search of food, sometimes covering as much as 2,000 miles in a year.

Put an animal used to wide open spaces in a confined space, and the results can be poor.

“If you put a polar bear in a small cage, before you know what happened, the wretched animal is beginning to show all kinds of behavioral disturbances,” Jones said.

One of the zoo’s bears, a male named Wilhelm, displays such behavior, although he was in poor shape after being rescued from dismal conditions in a Caribbean circus several years ago.

The current facility compares well with other zoos, Jones said. But that doesn’t mean it can’t get better.

“We’re trying to stay 10 years ahead of the game,” he said. “They’re not difficult to keep. But to keep them well, they need a wide variety of stimuli, a wide variety of things to keep them occupied.”

Providing more space isn’t just good for the bears — it also makes for a more rewarding experience for visitors.

“The last thing visitors want to see is an animal that’s totally inactive and looks bored,” Jones said.

The new exhibit will include a number of different elements — water, sand, ice and natural playthings, such as a tree trunk.

It also will include space for pregnant females to be alone with their cubs. The animals generally spend months with the cubs in caves of ice.

The hope is to obtain a pair from Canada, home to many of the world’s polar bears.

The breeding program could bring additional revenue to the zoo. That’s not because you sell the cubs — that’s not the way it works in American zoos — but because what would bring in more people than frisky cubs skating around on the ice?

The prospect of additional furry animals makes fundraising easier as well.

Russ Williams, the head of the N.C. Zoo Society, a nonprofit that raises money for zoo efforts, calls them “the chosen megavertebrates.”

“They’re definitely our zoo favorites,” he said. “Polar bears are a lot easier to get people interested in.”

So far, a campaign for the polar bear exhibit has brought in $1.2 million of the $2 million goal.

That includes a handful of major gifts and a penny-raising campaign in elementary schools.

In a difficult time for fundraising, “we’re especially grateful that we’ve had the kind of response we’ve had,” Williams said.

The plan is to begin construction late next year or early 2011 and to open the exhibit in 2012.

Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or at jason.hardin@news-record.com