By Charles E. Ramirez, Tribune News Service
The Detroit Zoo’s newest resident is a strong swimmer with black skin and white fur and bears a striking resemblance to the Coca-Cola and ICEE mascots.
His name is Kali — pronounced Cull-ee — and he’s made the zoo’s Arctic Ring of Life habitat his new home, zoo officials announced Friday.
The 13-year-old polar bear moved from the Toledo Zoo to Detroit Zoo, where he will share a habitat with two females, Suka, 13, and Haley, 23, officials said.
The zoo also said Kali was found in 2013 as an orphaned cub by residents of the indigenous village of Point Lay, Alaska. He was turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and moved to the Saint Louis Zoo in 2015. He then took up residence in Toledo in 2025.
Officials said Kali is known for his strength and smarts to solve puzzles that benefit his enrichment and well-being. His caretakers describe him as gregarious, curious, and intelligent.
Meanwhile, a male polar bear from the Detroit Zoo, Nuka, has moved to the Toledo park’s Arctic Encounter, officials said.
Nuka first came to Detroit in January 2020. He moved to the Toledo Zoo from Detroit in February 2022 and was paired with female polar bear Crystal as part of a breeding effort. The match resulted in the birth of twin cubs that November, and Nuka returned to Detroit in March 2023.
“This successful transfer reflects the collaboration of our teams in Detroit and Toledo, as well as a shared commitment to animal well-being and conservation,” Mike Murray, the Detroit Zoo’s chief life sciences officer, said in a statement. “Nuka is an incredible polar bear, and we know he will continue to thrive in Toledo, where he will once again be paired with female polar bear Crystal.
“Here in Detroit, Kali is already settling in, and we know he will be an outstanding ambassador for his species and a wonderful addition to the polar bear group.”
Beverly Clinton, curator of mammals at the Toledo Zoo, said the swap was done based on recommendations from the Polar Bear Population Alliance, a consortium of zoos working to maintain a sustainable, genetically diverse, and healthy polar bear population in the United States.
The polar bear is among the latest additions to the Detroit Zoo.
In December, three African lion cubs were born to the zoo’s 9-year-old lioness mom, Amirah.
In November, a giraffe was born to Zara, a 7-year-old giraffe at the zoo.
In July, a female chimpanzee was born to 34-year-old Nyani, who was also born at the Detroit Zoo.
