Polar bear Amelia Gray is settling into her new home at the Oregon Zoo.
Officials said Friday that the 5-year-old bear met her half-sister, Nora, for the first time this week! The two pals romped around the Polar Passage during their greeting, according to the zoo. They playfully sparred, chased one another, and splashed around in the saltwater pool.
The zoo said they took the introductions slow at first, "but they made it very clear they wanted to be together and their care team listened." While keepers will continue to monitor the bears' interactions, so far, they are off to a great start, reported officials.
Amelia Gray first arrived in Oregon last month after she was transferred from the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.
In the weeks before she met Nora, Amelia Gray got familiar with her new habitat, the Polar Passage, which has both communal and private spaces for the bears.
"They are getting on like a house on fire," said Amy Cutting, who oversees the zoo's polar bear area, in a statement. "We could not be happier for both of them."
Moving forward, visitors to the zoo will likely see the two sister bears playing and swimming together in the habitat.
The zoo says it is also working with Polar Bears International, the U.S. Geological Survey, and others "on projects that will shed new light on how climate change is affecting polar bears in the Arctic." Polar bears are currently listed as "threatened" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.