'We really care for these bears': Two polar bears from Winnipeg zoo to live in Calgary

The Assiniboine Park Zoo is saying goodbye to two of its polar bears.

Baffin and Siku, two male bears currently living at the Winnipeg zoo, will move to the Calgary Zoo this fall.

“They’ve reached the age where it’s time to think about other things, and they’re going to live their life in Calgary,” said Chris Enright, senior director of zoological operations at Assiniboine Park Conservancy. “They’re going to be ambassadors for polar bears, telling the story of climate change, and really engaging a whole new audience about things they can do to help protect Manitoba bears.”

Both Baffin and Siku were orphaned as cubs, and were found wandering in Churchill before they came to the zoo.

Enright called the move bittersweet.

“We really care for these bears,” he said. “We’ve had six or seven years with these bears literally growing up before our eyes, and we care about them deeply, but it’s also the whole point of why we have a transition facility, a rescue facility to take a bear that’s not going to survive in the wild, give it a life in human care that is absolutely fantastic, and to have them be ambassadors.”

Enright believes the two bears will thrive in a smaller group setting at Calgary’s zoo and receive more individual attention.

Baffin and Siku will live at a new exhibit at the Calgary Zoo that is scheduled to open in December. It is the first time the Calgary Zoo has had polar bears since 1999.

There are currently nine polar bears at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, including Baffin and Siku.