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Orphan polar bear at Assiniboine Park Zoo may soon have a new friend

The news just keeps getting better for an 11-month-old polar bear cub in Winnipeg. Not only has she recently been rescued after being found orphaned near an airport in Churchill, Man., but she may soon be getting a new friend from south of the border.

Just last month, a polar bear named Hudson was the only polar bear resident at Assiniboine Park Zoo. Today, though, he’s one of three with possibly a fourth on the way. He’s joined by an unnamed bear who was brought in earlier in October, and the 11-month old female cub. And they may all soon be saying “Hola!” to Arturo from a zoo in Mendoza, Argentina.

If deemed fit enough to travel, The Winnipeg Free Press reports, the 28-year-old male polar bear could be a part of the zoo’s Journey to Churchill exhibit when it launches the summer of 2014.

This Sunday, the chief operations officer of Assiniboine Park Conservancy Don Peterkin will be heading to Argentina to meet with Arturo’s caretakers and discuss the health of the polar bear and the feasibility of moving him. But Peterkin says even if Arturo does prove challenging to move, that shouldn’t deter the zoo from taking him in.

“We can’t just take the easy ones,” Peterkin told the Free Press. “It’s easy to get a bear from Churchill and bring it back in a day. If we’re serious about doing what’s right for polar bears, then we should help bring this animal into better surroundings.”

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Arturo was flagged as a bear that they should consider taking in earlier this year when Winnipeg resident told the zoo that the hot weather in Argentina was taking a toll on Arturo. Footage of the polar bear shows him pacing anxiously in his enclosure and with little water in his small environment:

If Arturo is brought to the zoo, he likely wouldn’t be integrated directly with the other three, as he has lived most of his life in solitude. But being in a more polar bear-friendly climate could certainly help him live a longer, happier life.

As for the young female cub, she is currently in a mandatory 30-day quarantine and receiving some much-needed medical attention; when she was found, she had a few broken and infected teeth, so she’ll be visiting with a veterinary dentist soon.