Humphrey the polar bear arrives at Assiniboine Park Zoo
The Assiniboine Park Zoo is welcoming its newest polar bear star: Humphrey, the 16-month-old cub that relocated from the Toronto Zoo to Winnipeg over the weekend.
After his flight landed at Winnipeg's Richardson International Airport at around 2 a.m. Saturday, Humphrey moved into his temporary home at the zoo's International Polar Bear Conservation Centre (IPBCC), according to officials.
- VIDEO | Toronto Zoo's going-away party for Humphrey
"He wasn't particularly happy when he came out of the cage after eight hours of travel. But he settled right in … and seemed excited to be outside and exploring this morning," said Gary Lunsford, the zoo's general curator.
Humphrey is the younger brother of Hudson, the first polar bear to take up residence in the zoo's Journey to Churchill exhibit two years ago. While Humphrey weighs in at about 300 pounds and his brother tips the scales at 850 pounds, they share many things.
They're the only bears at the zoo who were born in captivity — all others are wild, brought in from northern Manitoba. Hudson and Humphrey share the same parents and were the only surviving cubs in their respective litters.
Oh, and one other thing about Humphrey: "He's much like his big brother Hudson, he likes people," said Lunsford.
It'll be a bit of time yet before the brothers are reunited and before Humphrey meets the other bears — Storm, Aurora and Kaska.
Humphrey will remain in his temporary digs at the IPBCC for a 30-day quarantine period and then officials will begin introducing him to his immediate neighbours — who are more the same size.
Blizzard and Star, who are brother and sister, arrived at the zoo in September from northern Manitoba. The 15-month-old bears, are also still waiting to be introduced to the other four in the main Journey to Churchill exhibit.
In the meantime, they still reside in an enclosure at the IPBCC and though they can't see Humphrey in the enclosure next to them, they can smell him, said Lunsford.
"It's been pretty interesting to watch as they try to see and figure out what's going on on the other side," he said.
Zoo staff will be discussing how soon to introduce those three, who are all close in size, then when to make the move into Journey to Churchill.
"[First] we'll introduce them to the other girls [Storm, Aurora and Kaska]," Lunsford said. “Eventually we'll introduce Humphrey to Hudson, once he puts more weigh on.”
