Polar bear cub at Toledo Zoo gets Alaskan name

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A male polar bear cub born in December at the Toledo Zoo has finally gotten a name.

The zoo announced today that the cub born Dec. 3 will be called Siku, a name selected from submissions by children on the North Slope in Alaska. Siku means ’ice’ in the language of the Inupiat, who rely on the Arctic ice shelf for hunting.

The name was suggested by fourth-grader Isaiah Rexford Harold of Kaveolook School in Kaktovik, Alaska.

The zoo worked with the World Wildlife Fund, Polar Bears International and the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management to collect more than 80 possible names.

The cub remains off-exhibit in the care of its mother, Crystal. It was born with a sibling that died after a few days.