The Toledo Zoo's cute and furry polar bear, Siku, is spending his last summer here.

Siku, who has grown to a whopping 585 pounds since his birth at the zoo Dec. 3, 2009, will be moved early this fall to the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky, zoo officials announced Wednesday.

In Lousiville, the young male polar bear will join Arki, an adult female, and Qannik, a female cub. Siku is expected to be a companion for Qannik, who was found orphaned on Alaska's North Slope this spring. Toledo Zoo Spokesman Candace York said Siku will be part of the Polar Bear Species Survival Plan -- an accredited breeding program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Still, it could be several years before the not quite 2-year-old Siku becomes a papa.

Randi Myerson, curator of mammals for the Toledo Zoo, said polar bears typically reach breeding age at 7 or 8 in zoos.

"At this point, he is going to Louisville as a companion for their young female cub. They may be a breeding pair later on, but since that is years away we cannot say for sure," Dr. Myerson said. "It depends on the status of the number of exhibits we have and how many other cubs are born in the meantime -- plus a big unknown is the need for rescue space to house orphaned or compromised wild polar bears, as the ice in the Arctic disappears."

Siku was born at the zoo to his mother, Crystal, and father, Marty, who still live at the zoo's Arctic Encounter along with another female polar bear, Nan.

Through a contest involving more than 80 schoolchildren from Alaska's North Slope, he received his name, which means "ice" in the Inupiaq language.

Dr. Myerson, who serves as coordinator of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Polar Bear Species Survival Plan and co-chairman of the Polar Bear International's Polar Bear Sustainability Alliance, said Siku technically will be on loan to Louisville, though it is not likely he will return to Toledo. Because he is housed with his mother, zoo staff has been working with them in separate training sessions, gradually increasing the time mother and son are separated.

"The bears do adjust pretty quickly," she said.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-724-6129.

First Published August 24, 2011, 10:25 p.m.