Siku, Lincoln Park Zoo polar bear, is moving to Madison, Wisconsin

A polar bear from the Lincoln Park Zoo is turning into a badger.

No, the zoo has not mastered shapeshifting. Siku, a 15-year-old male polar bear, is moving in the coming weeks to Madison, Wisconsin — home, of course, of the University of Wisconsin Badgers.

Siku is being transferred to the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison as part of a nationwide conservation initiative to maintain a sustainable and genetically diverse polar bear population, the Lincoln Park Zoo said.

At an early-bird member morning recently, Lincoln Park Zoo members said goodbye to Siku, leaving messages on the window of the polar bear habitat at the Walter Family Arctic Tundra, the zoo announced.

The playful Siku arrived in Chicago in 2016, and has been a fan favorite ever since, the zoo said.

“It’s hard not to smile when you see Siku swimming, exploring, pouncing on one of his many balls, or foraging in ice,” curator Cassy Kutilek said in a news release. “He quickly won the hearts of his care team and while we’ll be sad to see him go, we’re excited to see him embark on his next adventure—hopefully as a polar bear dad!”  

Talini, the resident female polar bear at the Lincoln Park Zoo, is now elderly and receiving specialized geriatric care. She will soon enter her den for the winter, the zoo said.