Denver Zoo announces temporary relocation for two of its polar bears

The Denver Zoo announced Tuesday, two of its polar bears will be temporarily departing from the zoo. They will be leaving Colorado to be temporarily paired with new mates in hopes of producing offspring.

The Zoo’s 16-year-old female polar bear, Cranbeary, will leave in October for The Alaska Zoo. Her 18-year-old male mate named Lee will also be departing Denver later in the fall and go to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium at the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan.

The Zoo posted on their Facebook page that the polar bear’s current homes will be re-purposed as a new and improved home for their grizzly bears, Kootenai and Tundra.

They continued by saying the bears will be greatly missed, however, they feel this is the best thing for them and the polar bear species.

There are currently only 44 polar bears in North American zoos and the species only continues to decline as they face major threats in the wild.

Read more about their relocation by clicking here.