PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A month after announcing that polar bear Amelia Gray would be leaving the Oregon Zoo, officials shared that her half-sister, Nora, will also be going away.

On Tuesday, the Oregon Zoo announced that Nora will be transferred to the Henry Vilas Zoo in Wisconsin, where they hope she can raise cubs.

“We’re going to miss Nora,” said Rachel Ritchason, the Oregon Zoo’s deputy director of animal care. “In some ways, it feels like she grew up here. But we know this is an important step for her as well as for the overall polar bear population. It would be amazing to see her raise some cubs and help ensure a long-term future for this very vulnerable species.”

The move is part of a plan by the Polar Bear Population Alliance, a group of zoos and aquariums working to maintain “a sustainable, genetically diverse polar bear population.”

“Modern zoos and aquariums play a key part in saving this species,” said Amy Cutting, vice president of conservation at Polar Bears International. “Polar bears live in one of the harshest environments on the planet, making them notoriously difficult to study so we have gaps in our understanding of how climate action is affecting them. The bears in professional care can help.”

In Wisconsin, Nora will first be introduced to Berit, a 26-year-old female polar bear who serves as an auntie to younger bears, and eventually, she will be introduced to a male bear in hopes that she can raise cubs.

“Nora is such a special bear,” said Ritchason. “She has fans all over the country — from Ohio, where folks still call her their ‘buckeye bear,’ to Utah, where she first learned how to interact with other bears. We know Wisconsinites are going to connect with her too.”

Nora is currently the zoo’s only polar bear, but with her leaving, another bear will be moving into the recently renovated habitat.

Kallik, a young male polar bear from the St. Louis Zoo, will be headed to the Oregon Zoo.

Born in 2022 at the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium alongside a twin brother, Kallu, Kallik already weighs nearly 700 pounds, and he has been described by caregivers as “energetic, playful and curious.”

When they get older, both Kallik and Kallu may also pair with female polar bears, but those plans haven’t been made yet.

Kallik is expected to move to Oregon later this fall, officials said.

Andrew Foran

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