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Orphaned polar bear cub getting new home in NY

Published: March 22, 2013 Comment on this article

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An orphaned Alaska polar bear is getting a new temporary home in Buffalo, N.Y.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say the 2- to 3-month-old cub is expected to be transported to the Buffalo Zoo sometime this spring to join the zoo's own cub, Luna.

photo - This photo provided by the Alaska Zoo and taken March 18, 2013, in Anchorage, Alaska, shows Kali, an orphaned polar bear cub who is being cared for at the zoo. The cub's mother was shot in Point Lay, Alaska, on March 12 and the cub is temporarily staying at the zoo in Anchorage until it has a permanent home. (AP Photo/Courtesy the Alaska Zoo, John Gomes)

This photo provided by the Alaska Zoo and taken March 18, 2013, in Anchorage, Alaska, shows Kali, an orphaned polar bear cub who is being cared for at the zoo. The cub's mother was shot in Point Lay, Alaska, on March 12 and the cub is temporarily staying at the zoo in Anchorage until it has a permanent home. (AP Photo/Courtesy the Alaska Zoo, John Gomes)

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The Alaska cub is currently being cared for at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage after its mother was killed March 12 by a subsistence hunter near Point Lay on Alaska's northwest coast.

Point Lay residents asked that the bear be named Kali (KUL'-lee), the Inupiat Eskimo name for their village. Zoo officials say the cub now weighs about 23 pounds.

Fish and Wildlife Service officials say the St. Louis Zoo is being considered as a permanent home for Kali.