KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City’s popular polar bear, Nikita, is getting a mate delivered to him, possibly before Christmas.
What a present!
Her name is Berlin, and she comes from Minnesota.
While there’s a vast age difference between the two (she is 23 and he’s 6), Kansas City Zoo officials hope the two will be a suitable pair.
Berlin has an edge to her that Nikita might like. This summer, she escaped her enclosure at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth during torrential rains.
After she was captured, she went to Como Zoo’s Polar Bear Odyssey in St. Paul because of flooding. In October, zookeepers found her lethargic and discovered she was bleeding internally due to a mass. She had surgery and has since made a “strong recovery.”
The Polar Bear Species Survival Program recommended Berlin come to Kansas City to be with Nikita.
