There's a new bear in town, bringing the number of polar bears at the Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota, to four.
On Friday morning, zoo officials announced the arrival of 4-year-old Astra, who they hope will mate with Kulu, a 5-year-old male polar bear currently at the zoo, as part of a breeding effort to increase the population of the threatened species .
According to the zoo, Astra's move from the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington, is part of a plan made by the Polar Bear Population Alliance and other organizations working to make a "sustainable and genetically diverse polar bear population in the United States."
Astra weighs 700 pounds, according to zoo officials, who add she is currently in a mandatory quarantine period in a holding area and an outdoor quarantin