Visiting bears to relocate to Wisconsin

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IOC3_15BearsSuka (pronounced SOO-kah) and Sakari (pronounced Suh-KAR-ee), the visiting polar bears who came to Como Zoo from the Toledo Zoo in Sept., 2014, are getting ready to move on to their brand new home.  Dane County’s Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin announced at the end of February that they will welcome the two and a half year-old twin polar bears to their new Arctic Passage exhibit in time for its grand opening this Memorial Day.

The two bears made Minnesota their home for the last five months sharing Como’s Polar Bear Odyssey habitat with Como’s older, and much larger resident polar bears Buzz and Neil. While the two pair of polar bears are only a few yards away from each other, they do not share the same space. A unique feature of the Polar Bear Odyssey structure is the two separate habitat areas that are joined together by a corridor. This allows the two pair of polar bears to each have their own exhibit, and to also transfer from one exhibit to the other. Because of this feature, along with Como’s experience caring for multiple groups of bears and Como’s reputation as a top provider of animal care and welfare, the Polar Bear Species Survival Plan (SSP) committee, with the backing of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), chose Como Zoo as the facility to hold Suka and Sakari while the Henry Vilas Zoo put the final touches on their state-of-the-art exhibit Arctic Passage.

The bears can still be seen in Como’s world class exhibit, “Polar Bear Odyssey” for at least through March as plans for the move are evolving.

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