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A "cheeky" playmate will offer bear necessities to Britain's only polar bear when he arrives at his new Highland home today.
The 23-month-old polar bear cub called Walker is travelling from Rhenen Zoo in Holland to Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie.
He will be gradually introduced to Mercedes, a 28-year-old female polar bear, who arrived at the park last year from Edinburgh Zoo.
Mercedes has been living alone since the death of Barney, her breeding partner who died 13 years ago.
Although the pair had produced two cubs, To-Nuik and Ohoto, they were transferred to other zoos.
Walker's mother, Huggies, is expecting another litter so zoo bosses decided it was time to find him a new home before she gives birth.
Douglas Richardson, animal collection manager for Highland Wildlife Park, said: "The polar bear European Endangered Species Programme co-ordinates the movement of animals around European zoo collections as part of the breeding programme.
"The decisions for these moves are largely based on the quality of the enclosures and, having one of the largest polar bear enclosures in the world, I'm pleased to say that Highland Wildlife Park was top of the list for Walker's new home'."
The current polar bear enclosure at Highland Wildlife Park spans four acres and has a natural pool and tundra-like environment.
In preparation for Walker’s arrival, an extension has been added to the enclosure, which will allow keepers to initially manage Walker and Mercedes separately.
The bears will be gradually introduced to each other with a view to them living together, although they will not mate.
Mr Richardson was not expecting the pair to give each other the cold shoulder.
He said: "Although polar bears are generally solitary animals that are happy being alone, they have an excellent memory. Mercedes has been with other bears before, so we are expecting the introduction to go fairly smoothly.
"Walker will not reach sexual maturity for at least another three years so should present no threat to Mercedes - being a teenager he does have a cheeky side, but we expect him to see Mercedes as a mother figure having been recently separated from his own mother.
"In the future, Walker will be moved to a new enclosure on the other side of the park and will be our future breeding male."
Until Walker's arrival, Mercedes had been the only polar bear on public show in Britain.
She was brought here in 1984 from Canada, where she was due to be shot after being found roaming into local towns looking for food.
She was given a reprieve when Edinburgh Zoo offered to give her a home and remained there until 2009 when she was moved to Highland Wildlife Park.
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