Duluth polar bear going to Kansas City

Published 11:55 am Thursday, December 13, 2012

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Zoo’s lone polar bear, a male named Nikita, is about to get some company.

Zoo officials said Wednesday they had decided to bring a female polar bear named Berlin to the zoo. She’s been living at a St. Paul zoo after her home at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth flooded this summer.

The transfer became official after zoo veterinarian Kirk Suedmeyer visited the Minnesota zoo be sure Berlin was up to the trip after a recent surgery.

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Berlin could arrive by next week and will be quarantined for 30 days.

Officials hope the 23-year-old female will mate with Nikita, who is a 6-year-old.