Featured Image Credit: Dave Killen | The Oregonian/OregonLive
You may have seen her on our news feed, from a viral video of her on social media, or maybe you’ve been lucky enough to see her in person at Oregon Zoo. Her name is Nora and she is the spunkiest and most playful polar bear you will ever see, and now she is getting ready for her big move from Oregon Zoo to her new home at Utah’s Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.
It was a typical pre-fall day in Portland when folks rushed to the Oregon Zoo to say goodbye to their favorite polar bear cub. It was all blue skies and a welcomed chill creeping in under some late summer warmth.
As usual, Nora made the absolute most out of her day, plunging into her pool and playing with the plentiful toys at her disposal, like her favorite ball or a huge ice tub.
Sometime during the month, Portland’s favorite furry, almost 2-year-old polar bear cub will travel, first by van and then plane, to her new home at Utah’s Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. After she spends some time in quarantine, she will meet her aunt Hope.
Nora was born in November 2015 at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio and has been charming humans ever since. When she was less than a week old, her mother abandoned her and zookeepers did their best to raise her without bear help. So this will be the first time in Nora’s life that she will be integrated with another bear. Hopefully, her aunt will be able to teach her things that her human caretakers and companions have been unable to do.
The Oregon Zoo plans to open a new exhibit called Polar Passage, sometime in 2019, which will help the zoo continue researching these massive bears that roam the Arctic and are some of the earliest victims of climate change.
Nora’s many fans are sad to see her go, but as a fluffy, playful and adorable ambassador for her struggling species, she has already left her mark on the younger generation.