Hudson playing in the snow at Assiniboine Park Zoo. (HANDOUT)
A day after announcing its third polar bear resident at Assiniboine Park Zoo, there’s a possibility Winnipeg could be home to a fourth.
Zoo officials are travelling to Argentina on Sunday to determine whether a 28-year-old male polar bear at the Mendoza Zoo is also a candidate for transfer.
Staff will meet with Argentina’s conservation minister during a series of meetings planned for Tuesday until Friday. The Mendoza Zoo originally denied a request from Assiniboine Park Zoo to transfer the bear to its care when previously contacted, but talks have opened up again.
Should the bear be a suitable candidate to join three others in Winnipeg, it could be moved here during April or May of next year. And while 28 may seem like an old bear, zoo staff here say Debby lived to be 42, so there are many more years ahead of it.
On Monday, the zoo announced an orphaned polar bear cub from Churchill had been transferred to the International Polar Bear Conservation Centre.
Assiniboine Park Zoo is already home to Hudson, as well as another adult bear from Churchill.
