When it was decided that Siku was to be hand-reared here in the park, it was important to us that he was used as an ambassador for his wild counterparts. He was to help tell the story of climate change, the disappearing sea ice and what effect it has on both polar bears and the rest of the planet. That’s why he got the name Siku, which means sea ice in many inuit languages.

Sikus wish

Such a cute little polar bear kid can quickly win over many hearts, and there were a lot of media outlets who wanted to write about and film Siku. Anyone was allowed do an interview with us, if they just talked about climate change at the same time. In this way, a lot of publicity was created about the problems polar bears encounter in the wild.

Although Siku, as a little polar bear cub, knew nothing about all that was written and said about him, we here in the park still formulated Siku’s wish:
That everyone lowers their carbon footprint to help save Siku’s wild counterparts.

We needed help

Siku’s worldwide popularity was very overwhelming, so help was quickly needed to manage all the queries that were coming. The help came from Polar Bears International, who “adopted” Siku and put us in touch with explore.org. They sponsored a 5-year project along with The Annenberg Foundation (none of the money goes to the park, but to the operation of Siku Cam, websites etc.), with Siku as the centerpiece.