Kansas City, MO – After nearly 20 years, the Kansas City Zoo will again have a bear exhibit.
Zoo officials said Monday that the zoo will receive a polar bear in time for a new exhibit to open next spring.
Only 81 polar bears are held in captivity in North America. Kansas City hasn't had one since 1990.
The zoo expects to receive a 3-year-old male polar bear on loan from the Toledo Zoo, where he was born and is called Nikita.
Kansas City's new bear exhibit space is designed to accommodate up to three bears, but for the time being the bear will have more than 9,500 square feet all to himself.