Adorable video shows young polar bear half-sisters splashing about in tub full of ice at Oregon Zoo

Play n-ice! Adorable video shows young polar bear half-sisters splashing about in a large tub full of ice at Oregon Zoo

Half-sisters Nora and Amelia Gray are shown playing at Oregon Zoo in Portland
In footage shared by the zoo the animals can be seen diving into the ice
The polar bears were both born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio

By James Callery For Mailonline

Published: 08:57 EST, 30 December 2022 | Updated: 11:49 EST, 30 December 2022

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This adorable video shows young polar bear half-sisters Nora, seven, and Amelia Gray, six, playing in a large tub full of ice at the Oregon Zoo in Portland.

In footage shared by the zoo the animals can be seen digging and diving into the ice.

Zookeepers said the bears, who only met last year, ‘enjoy playfully sparring, rolling in ice and diving into their deep saltwater pools’.

The half-sisters were both born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan.

The adorable video shows young polar bear half-sisters Nora, seven, and Amelia Gray, six, playing in a large tub full of ice at the Oregon Zoo in Portland. In footage shared by the zoo the animals can be seen digging and diving into the ice

Nora was transferred to the Oregon Zoo at 10 months old to keep the zoo’s lone polar bear, a 31-year-old female named Tasul, company after her brother, Conrad, died in old age.

Amelia Gray joined Nora in Oregon last year, and even though they had never met the pair became fast friends, zookeepers said.

‘Polar bear introductions can be very intense so we took it slowly at first,’ said Amy Cutting, who oversees the zoo’s polar bear habitat, at the time of their meeting.

‘But they made it very clear they wanted to be together, and their care team listened.’

Zookeepers said the bears, who only met last year, ‘enjoy playfully sparring, rolling in ice and diving into their deep saltwater pools’. The half-sisters were both born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan

Nora was transferred to the Oregon Zoo at 10 months old to keep the zoo’s lone polar bear, a 31-year-old female named Tasul, company after her brother, Conrad, died in old age. Amelia Gray joined Nora in Oregon last year, and even though they had never met the pair became fast friends, zookeepers said

Nora and Amelia Gray contribute to research into polar bear diets and how they may be affected by climate change, conducted by the zoo in partnership with Polar Bears International, the US Geological Survey and others.

‘Nora enjoys her time in a swim flume designed to help scientists understand the caloric requirements of wild polar bears,’ the zoo said in a statement.

Amelia Gray, before moving to Portland, was one of just a few bears outfitted with a ‘Burr on Fur,’ a prototype tracking device designed for wild bears by 3M.