TOLEDO — Nora is moving again but this time she’ll have a home-girl for a roommate.
Currently in Oregon, the polar bear cub born in 2015 at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will be relocated to a zoo in Utah where she will be joined by a playful bear that is popular among Toledo Zoo visitors.
Zoo officials say 1-year-old Hope is being transferred to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City this fall where she will join Nora, whose elderly partner died shortly after the bear arrived at the Oregon Zoo.
Zoo officials tell The Blade that the bears are important for breeding purposes and for research on the effects of climate change.
Hope has been staying with her mother Crystal at the Toledo Zoo. She was the seventh cub born at the zoo since 2006.
Zoo officials say Crystal will be reunited with her mate after Hope leaves. The zoo could have another cub along the way if the bears are ready to breed this year.