The Toledo Zoo has postponed the debut of the polar bears due to inclement weather

TOLEDO, OH – Editor’s Note: The above video was originally released in March. 3

UPDATE: Due to inclement weather, the Polar Bears’ debut has been postponed. Video of the polar bear broadcast has been added at the end of this story.

You’ve been waiting months to see them, and now the Toledo Zoo has announced that the new bear cubs will be on public display starting Friday.

Kallik and Kalu, which got their name through a public competition in March will be on display with their mother at the Arctic Encounter exhibit from 10am to 5pm daily.

The two males were born on November 11, 2022, and the zoo announced their arrival in early December.

The cubs were born to 23-year-old polar bear Crystal as part of a breeding program. The male polar bear that gave birth to twins, 17-year-old Nuka, was transferred to another zoo in late February as part of the AZA Species Survival Plan.

The two cubs are the first to be born at the zoo since 2010, and Crystal’s eighth and ninth cubs. They are expected to appear in front of visitors to the zoo this spring.

Polar bears are considered an endangered species, and the Polar Bear Species Survival Program issued breeding guidelines for the mother, 23-year-old Crystal. The father, Nuka, was admitted to the zoo in March to begin the breeding process.

The cubs grow up in the exhibition from the moment they are born. At birth, polar bear cubs are about 12 inches long, weigh only about one pound, are blind and toothless with short, soft fur.

Cubs are completely dependent on their mother, but grow rapidly when they drink their mother’s milk, which has a fat content of 31 percent. Mother and cub will not leave the den until the cub reaches 20-30 pounds and is able to safely venture out onto the sea ice for feeding.