A different kind of White Christmas was in store for North Carolina Zoo visitors in Asheboro when “Patches,” the zoo’s new female polar bear, went on exhibit for the first time the day after Christmas. Born in 1987, Patches came to the N.C. Zoo from the Erie Zoo in Pennsylvania. The N.C. Zoo’s polar bear exhibit has been undergoing an $8.5 million renovation and expansion during the past two years. Patches will be exhibited in the older part of the N.C. Zoo’s exhibit while construction continues on the expansion areas.