Qannik The Polar Bear: Orphaned Cub Will Travel From Alaska To Kentucky (VIDEO)

One cub is about to take the ride of her life.

5-month-old Qannik the polar bear is scheduled to fly UPS Boeing 747-400 on Monday to the Louisville Zoo express from Alaska, where caretakers have monitored her since rescuing her as an orphan.

Translated to "Snowflake in Inupiat, Qannik was horribly underweight when she was found in Alaska.

"Our first contact with her was when she arrived here at the Alaska Zoo and she weighed in at about 15 pounds," said Susanne Miller, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist. "She's quite small; bears typically in the wild at that time of year are usually more like thirty pounds, so she was quite underweight and kind of weak. She wasn't able for example to stand up very well on her hind legs."

Moving Qannik from Alaska to Kentucky is a challenging project involving officials from the Alaska Zoo, Louisville Zoo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Polar Bears International and UPS, but now that she is back on her feet and a healthy 60-pounds, "Operation Snowflake" is ready to go into full effect.

Qannik will be welcomed to the Louisville Zoo's brand new Glacier Run polar bear habitat, opened just a day before she was found. Experts determined Qannik would receive the best long term care there.

For more, here are a few videos of Qannik the polar bear.

WATCH:

Orphaned polar bear cub recovers at Alaska Zoo from Marc Lester on Vimeo.

Comments

[Acebass]

01:51 PM on 06/29/2011

She has arrived...
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110628/NEWS01/306280075/After-two-months-planning-polar-bear-cub-arrives-Louisville-Zoo?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Local%20News

[Max Shaw]

04:44 PM on 06/27/2011

Thats quite a feat for an orphaned, malnourished bear to make it from Alaska to Kentucky. Wonder why on Earth he'd wanna go there...Especially to use his gift of flight for that too...Beyond me.

[blessyourlittleheart]

12:48 PM on 06/27/2011

That bear got completely screwed. Who wants to move from Alaska to Kentucky?

[porteratty]

08:09 AM on 06/27/2011

The one that comes out best in this story is UPS. I will use them forever, even after the post office leaves us.

[jackie57]

06:57 AM on 06/27/2011

to folks who thought the zoo had the capacity to make a polar bear happy:
no, it does not. can it offer what these bears need, like hundreds of miles to roam, fish, swim, raise young? no. all any zoo can do is make the people happy to see the "poor little orphan" and think we did something great in "rescuing" her. i truly feel sorry for her. a lifetime in prison, and what did she do? should have let her die in her natural world.

[deafwolf]

02:59 PM on 06/27/2011

What can it offer? A long life...Isn't that what we all want? And maybe educate some people during that life?

[Anne Mccormick]

10:19 PM on 06/27/2011

so, you would rather allow this bear to die in her natural world rather than allow her to live in a zoo. wow!! i bet PETA just loves having you as a member.

[harj714]

05:35 AM on 06/27/2011

Wow an actual Video without a commercial ? forget about the bear that was great !

[Mommyx2nky]

12:42 AM on 06/27/2011

I am really glad to have helped raise money for glacier run, the area where Qannik is headed. We have had an ongoing zoo membership for about 10 years now and it is absolutely a beautiful thing that they have created. It is one of the finest artic bear habitats I have ever seen with state of the art equipment to keep the bears happy. I can't wait to take my kiddos back to see Qannik!!

[Harvee Wallbanger]

10:53 PM on 06/26/2011

I'm so glad that polar bears can't fly...

[dellastreet49]

10:52 PM on 06/26/2011

POLAR BEAR SET TO FLY FROM ALASKA TO KENTUCKY.

That is one amazing polar bear. I would pay a dollar to see that.

[LeftLeanWing]

10:31 PM on 06/26/2011

In Kentucky...    Sarah Palin will show up in her Bus.....
                            Shot the Bear
               and..... Make Baby Polar Bear Chili.....
                and.....a nice furry muff for Tahd to remember her while she's on the Road. !

[DocSyracuse]

10:14 PM on 06/26/2011

Was Snowflake rescued after she was found floating away on one of Al Gore's lonely mini-icebergs?

[LeftLeanWing]

10:35 PM on 06/26/2011

Lawd.....

Will you please give us just One tro/l ..  that can actual make me laugh.....

Instead of these critters...

that keep using the same old tired WND and FoxNews boilerplate rhetoric ( or variation on those themes )..

DOC...  please go and do your training on the STYLE section...    until you can create some original prose ( or poetry or haiku )

[kyeshinka]

10:12 PM on 06/26/2011

Palin wants this bear shot dead.

[tedfio1]

10:37 PM on 06/26/2011

No, Palin wants YOU shot dead and I agree with her.....

[GuangxiDad]

10:08 PM on 06/26/2011

Nice. I might have to renew my membership to the Louisville Zoo.

[Dara Collins]

09:46 PM on 06/26/2011

Kentucky's new polar bear exhibit is amazing - yeah I know... who thinks of sending a polar bear to KY??? Well, if you saw the amazing exhibit they have... it's a great way for an orphaned polar to find a living. Just trust in the fact that they will make this little angel's life a blessing.

[muljan58]

09:14 PM on 06/26/2011

Don't understand why she doesn't stay in Alaska

[hottingers]

09:25 PM on 06/26/2011

Her new mother is giving a speech on Paul Rever's ride during the Civil War in Kentucky.

[Dara Collins]

10:01 PM on 06/26/2011

Paul Rever? Jeez! We're really not tards here in KY...sorry.

[muljan58]

10:14 PM on 06/26/2011

So that's it. Maybe little Qannik saw Russia from her home and got scared of the cold? Who's Paul Rever?

[stevef123811]

01:55 AM on 06/27/2011

Paul Rever is obviously a liberal hero of some sort.